Key Developments in Tokenized Treasury Integration
VanEck's tokenized U.S. Treasury fund, VBILL, has been integrated into Aave's Horizon Real-World Asset (RWA) Market on Ethereum. This integration allows VBILL to be used as collateral within Aave's permissioned marketplace, connecting traditional fixed-income products with blockchain-based lending systems designed for institutional investors.
Securitize, the firm providing the infrastructure for VBILL, highlighted in a blog post that this move facilitates new avenues for earning yield using familiar assets within decentralized finance (DeFi). Carlos Domingo, Founder and CEO of Securitize, announced on X that VBILL is the first tokenized asset issued by Securitize approved for collateral supply at Aave Horizon. He also noted that the integration utilizes Chainlink's price feeds for the VBILL asset within the Horizon market.
VBILL: Bridging Traditional Finance and DeFi
Launched in May 2025, VBILL represents shares in the VanEck Treasury Fund, which invests in short-term U.S. Treasury bills and similar cash-like assets. The objective is for each token to maintain a value close to $1, distributing daily yield. This provides an on-chain method for accessing returns derived from Treasury holdings. The fund operates across multiple blockchains, including Ethereum, Solana, BNB Chain, and Avalanche, utilizing Wormhole for cross-chain token transfers.
According to Aave data, VBILL currently has a liquidity of $9.17 million, with a 7-day yield of 3.93%. The cost of borrowing RLUSD is approximately 2.84%. This yield differential presents opportunities for yield-enhancing strategies. Users can deposit VBILL as collateral, borrow RLUSD, and then reinvest these borrowed funds to increase their overall return on investment.
This strategy can be repeated through a "yield loop." A user can deposit VBILL, borrow RLUSD, exchange it for USDC, purchase additional VBILL, and then deposit this new VBILL as collateral. Each iteration of this process increases the amount of VBILL that is earning yield. After one such cycle, the estimated return is around 4.84%. With further cycles, the potential return could increase to approximately 5.5%, contingent on prevailing market conditions.
Technology Powering the Integration
VanEck announced that the VanEck Treasury Fund (VBILL) is officially listed on Aave Horizon as a qualified collateral asset. According to a blog post from Securitize, the integration relies on the Chainlink NAVLink oracle to provide real-time pricing for VBILL. The Securitize DS Protocol facilitates instant on-chain purchases of new VBILL tokens, ensuring that users can complete these transactions without any delays.
VanEck also indicated that price accuracy will be further enhanced in the future with the implementation of Securitize’s Trusted Single Source Oracle. The Aave Horizon market operates on a permissioned model, restricting access to approved participants. This approach is designed to ensure institutional compliance while maintaining the transparency of on-chain activity.
Kyle DaCruz, Director of Digital Assets Product at VanEck, commented on the integration, stating, "Institutional investors can now leverage the safety and transparency of tokenized Treasuries while accessing the efficiency and composability of DeFi."
Opportunities and Risks
This integration signifies the potential for tokenized Treasuries to become a significant source of on-chain liquidity. The viability of this strategy is dependent on the yield generated by VBILL remaining consistently higher than the cost of borrowing RLUSD. If Treasury yields decline or borrowing rates increase, the differential between the two could narrow, thereby reducing potential returns.
Leveraged strategies inherently amplify risks. These risks include potential liquidation during periods of market volatility or if the price of VBILL falls below $1. Consequently, while this setup offers the possibility of enhanced returns, it necessitates rigorous risk management and continuous monitoring of collateral levels.
Significance of the Integration
The collaboration between VanEck and Securitize marks a significant step in bringing regulated real-world assets into the DeFi ecosystem. By tokenizing U.S. Treasury-backed assets and enabling their use as collateral, these firms are establishing a crucial link between traditional financial markets and blockchain-based liquidity systems.
This development provides a more defined framework for how institutional capital can engage with decentralized markets in the future, offering enhanced transparency and more predictable collateral mechanics.