Tokenization of US Treasuries Soars, Exceeding $1 Billion

Finance Redefined delivers insights into decentralized finance (DeFi) developments. This week's key highlights include the tokenization of over $1 billion in U.S. Treasurys on Ethereum, Polygon, and Solana, a court ruling favoring Coinbase's self-custody crypto wallet, the rapid growth of Coinbase's layer-2 system Basis with a doubling of TVL in a month, and the allocation of $137 million to kick-start Jupiter DEX's native DAO.

Tokenization of U.S. Treasuries Surges, Reaching Over $1 Billion on Blockchains

The burgeoning trend of asset tokenization has witnessed the digitization of over $1 billion worth of United States Treasuries on Ethereum, Polygon, Solana, and other blockchains. This surge has been driven in part by the recent launch of the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund, ticker symbol "BUIDL."

BlackRock's fund debuted on Ethereum on March 20 and currently boasts a market capitalization of $244.8 million. According to data from Etherscan, four transactions totaling $95 million were made into the fund over the past seven days, propelling it to the position of the second-largest tokenized government securities fund.

Landmark Win for Coinbase Wallet in SEC Lawsuit, Bolstering DeFi

In a significant development for the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem, a U.S. judge has dismissed allegations against Coinbase Wallet, ruling that it does not constitute a broker. This decision is being hailed by crypto attorneys as a "major win" for self-custody wallets and DeFi applications.

On March 27, U.S. District Judge Katherine Failla denied Coinbase's motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC had alleged that Coinbase's crypto staking offering was an unregistered security.

However, the judge found that the SEC had not adequately alleged that Coinbase engaged in broker-dealer activities through Coinbase Wallet, a self-custody crypto wallet that gives users complete control over their assets.

Jupiter DEX Launches Native DAO with $137 Million in Funding

Jupiter, a decentralized exchange (DEX) on the Solana blockchain, has allocated 10 million USD Coin (USDC) and 100 million of its native JUP token, a combined $137 million at the time of writing, to launch its Jupiter DAO.

In a March 27 announcement, Jupiter stated that the funding "provides the DAO with the ability to fund its operations with USDC and have a JUP allocation for long-term incentive alignment with J.U.P Contributors." The exchange added, "To ensure that the DAO will be able to execute on its key objectives over the long term, we will aim to top up the operational budget annually."

Foundation TVL Doubles in a Month, Memecoins Eyed as Growth Driver

The Ethereum layer-2 solution Base has seen its total value locked (TVL) double in less than a month, reaching $2.13 billion. Commentators speculate that Base could emerge as a potential hub for memecoins.

Base surpassed $1 billion in TVL on February 27, just 226 days after its August 2023 launch. Within 25 days, on March 23, the network had breached the $2 billion mark, according to data from L2Beat.

DeFi Sector Overview

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView reveal that the top 100 DeFi tokens by market capitalization experienced a bearish week, with most trading in the red on the weekly charts. However, the total value locked in DeFi protocols has rebounded above $100 billion.

Conclusion

This week's developments underscore the rapid evolution and growing significance of decentralized finance. The tokenization of real-world assets, the legal challenges faced by the SEC, the advancements in DeFi infrastructure, and the emergence of native DAOs all point to the continued maturation and potential of the DeFi ecosystem.