Consortium completes first blockchain-enabled US Treasury deal

The transaction, executed on Canton Network, a public blockchain network, using Tradeweb’s trading platform, enabled near-instant, atomic settlement of UST on a public blockchain, outside of traditional market hours, the firms said.

The live deal was conducted entirely on-chain, with USDC serving as the cash leg and on-chain UST as collateral. USDC (USD Coin) is a cryptocurrency stablecoin pegged to the United States dollar.

Justin Peterson, chief technology officer of Tradeweb, said: “The transaction marks a significant step toward 24/7 trading in these markets. Tradeweb’s deep US Treasury liquidity and electronic execution capabilities, combined with the Canton Network’s decentralised framework, enabled this trade to happen outside of traditional settlement windows. It’s an industry first and reflects the power of collaboration in building a resilient global capital market ecosystem.”

The consortium includes Bank of America, Citadel Securities, Cumberland DRW, Hidden Road, Societe Generale, Tradeweb and Virtu Financial.

“The transaction demonstrates how market participants can unlock real-time collateral mobility and round-the-clock financing using assets on chain, which lays the groundwork for a more efficient global financial system,” said Kelly Mathieson, chief business development officer at Digital Asset.

Brian Steele, managing director, president, clearing & securities services at DTCC, another conortium member, said: “This milestone underscores DTCC's commitment to advancing infrastructure that meets the market and the moment.”

“We will continue to drive forward solutions that support evolving client needs with a scalable, future-focused, and digital-first approach.”

Institutional investors were able to access automated financing outside of market hours, setting a new industry standard for 24/7 global trading access. Additional transactions are targeted for later this year, the consortium said.

Eurex announced last month its first trade for a blockchain-based clearing service.

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association in July published a report that found banks could save more than $50 billion (£36 billion) by 2030 using tokenisation to overhaul their payments and settlement processing.