OpenEden and BNY Mellon Partner on Tokenized US Treasury Fund

OpenEden has announced a partnership with BNY Mellon, a leading global custodian, to manage and custody the assets backing its tokenized U.S. Treasury fund, TBILL. This marks a key development in the tokenization of real-world assets (RWA), as the collaboration brings a traditional financial giant into the emerging market for blockchain-based Treasury instruments [1]. The TBILL token represents shares in a pool of short-dated U.S. Treasury Bills and overnight reverse repurchase agreements, offering investors a new way to access government-backed assets through tokenization.

OpenEden describes the TBILL product as the first tokenized U.S. Treasury fund with a Moody’s “A” rating, a designation indicating upper-medium-grade quality and low credit risk [1]. This rating adds a layer of credibility to the fund, reinforcing the appeal of tokenized instruments to institutional investors. According to OpenEden CEO Jeremy Ng, the partnership with BNY Mellon enhances trust in the digital asset space by combining the firm’s tokenization expertise with BNY Mellon’s deep fiduciary experience [1].

Under the agreement, BNY Mellon’s investment management arm, Dreyfus, will serve as a sub-manager of the TBILL fund, while the bank itself will act as the primary custodian of the underlying assets using its global infrastructure [1]. This dual role positions BNY Mellon as a key player in the lifecycle of tokenized assets—from custody and management to liquidity facilitation. The bank’s global head of investments and wealth, Jose Minaya, emphasized the partnership’s role in bridging traditional finance with emerging technologies, noting that it allows BNY Mellon to expand its liquidity management expertise in the tokenized asset space [1].

OpenEden highlighted growing demand for the TBILL product, driven by interest in regulated, on-chain cash management solutions [1]. The firm launched the product in 2023 to offer investors blockchain-based access to short-term U.S. Treasury instruments, leveraging the benefits of tokenization such as real-time settlement and increased accessibility. By tokenizing U.S. Treasury Bills, OpenEden aims to enhance liquidity and democratize access to traditionally institutional-grade assets.

BNY Mellon’s involvement in this project reflects its broader strategy to expand into the digital asset space. Since 2022, the bank has developed a digital custody platform to secure institutional Bitcoin and Ether holdings and introduced a digital assets data insights product to provide on-chain and off-chain analytics [1]. Most recently, BNY Mellon partnered with Goldman Sachs on a money market fund project aimed at offering institutional investors access to tokenized money market funds, further signaling the bank’s commitment to digital innovation [1].

The partnership between OpenEden and BNY Mellon represents a significant milestone in the tokenization of real-world assets. As more institutional investors explore the potential of tokenized instruments, the involvement of trusted custodians like BNY Mellon is expected to accelerate adoption. This collaboration not only strengthens the infrastructure for tokenized assets but also reinforces the growing convergence between traditional finance and blockchain technology, setting a precedent for future partnerships in the space [1].

Source: [1] BNY Mellon to Manage OpenEden's Tokenized US ... (https://cointelegraph.com/news/bny-mellon-openeden-tokenized-us-treasury)