VanEck Unveils VBILL: A New Tokenized US Treasury Fund in Race with BlackRock and Franklin Templeton

VanEck has stepped into the rapidly evolving world of tokenized finance with the launch of VBILL, a blockchain-based fund offering institutional investors access to tokenized U.S. Treasury bills. The fund was developed in partnership with tokenization specialist Securitize and represents VanEck’s latest move to capture market share in the real-world asset (RWA) tokenization sector.

According to a May 13 announcement, VBILL will be deployed across four major blockchains—Avalanche, BNB Chain, Ethereum, and Solana. Minimum investment thresholds vary: $100,000 for subscriptions on Avalanche, BNB Chain, and Solana, and a higher $1 million floor for Ethereum.

This puts VanEck in direct competition with existing tokenized Treasury products such as BlackRock’s BUIDL and Franklin Templeton’s BENJI, as well as Apollo’s private credit fund introduced earlier this year. The market for tokenized U.S. Treasurys is gaining momentum, now valued at approximately $6.9 billion—second only to private credit in the RWA space.

Securitize, VanEck’s tech partner for this initiative, has already tokenized more than $3.9 billion in assets and recently closed a $47 million strategic funding round led by BlackRock in May 2024.

The broader financial industry is increasingly embracing blockchain for its potential to streamline securities issuance, reduce settlement times, and unlock liquidity in previously illiquid assets. SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins highlighted the transformative nature of this shift during the agency’s May 12 roundtable, likening the digitization of securities to the evolution of music from analog to digital formats.

“As music was revolutionized by digital audio, so too could blockchain transform securities markets by enabling entirely new modes of issuance, trading, and ownership,” Atkins said. He also noted that many existing SEC rules may soon require reevaluation as blockchain introduces unprecedented financial instruments and market dynamics.

With VBILL, VanEck becomes the latest Wall Street firm to bridge traditional finance and blockchain infrastructure, aiming to meet rising institutional demand for compliant, onchain financial products.