Real-Time Collateral with Tokenized Money Market Funds Has Arrived

Financial markets have evolved. The infrastructure supporting them — built for an age of limited banking hours and multi-day settlement — has struggled to keep pace.

This is especially evident in the world of collateral and liquidity management, where demand for 24/7/365 markets runs headfirst into the limitations of legacy financial infrastructure. That’s a problem. Delayed settlements, overnight liquidity buffers, credit risk, manual processing, and opaque-risk exposures pose challenges to capital efficiency and resiliency — especially during periods of volatility.

As the issuer of USYC¹, a tokenized money market fund with onchain settlement, and USDC², the world’s largest regulated² stablecoin, we see these challenges firsthand. Thankfully, we also see a path forward.

Fragmented collateral and delays

In traditional capital markets, collateral flows and margin processes are slowed by operational bottlenecks. They’re also restricted to banking hours. That can cause delays, which in turn can lead to:

• Needing excess capital buffers to cover overnight and weekend risk
• An inefficient deployment of capital, reducing trading velocity
• An inability to respond to volatility outside of market hours
• Slow and unreliable margin movement 

As markets shift toward continuous operation, these inefficiencies become more pronounced. USYC — a tokenized money market fund that enables nearly instant, around-the-clock redemptions³ into USDC — offers a solution.

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Near-instant redemptions, at any time

Tokenized money market funds like USYC offer a breakthrough in collateral management. By leveraging blockchain infrastructure, these assets can be:

• Transferred nearly instantly, 24/7/365
• Called and liquidated with higher frequency
• Integrated directly into smart contracts, automating margin and risk workflows
• Verified and settled onchain, reducing reconciliation overhead
• Continuously generating yield

This model is ahead of traditional financial systems in terms of agility and capital efficiency, and USYC delivers this vision in a regulated package. That’s a game changer.

And when USYC is paired with USDC, it seamlessly combines the yield of a tokenized money market fund with the liquidity of a stablecoin — all within Circle’s infrastructure. It’s a powerful combination of flexibility and efficiency.

With this one-two punch, USYC resolves a long-standing dilemma: liquidity has typically come at the expense of yield, requiring firms to hold large, non-productive cash buffers. However, tokenized money market funds like USYC help firms keep capital productive up until the moment it’s needed — redeeming, transferring, or rehypothecating assets in real time.

Blockchain technology, which underpins USYC, is unique in its ability to bring these at-scale efficiencies to capital markets. USYC raises the bar even further, making near-instant redemptions for yield-bearing collateral the new table stakes for the financial industry.
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Speed, safety, and savings

The convergence of tokenized money market funds and stablecoins unlocks tangible benefits for institutions. It powers reduced collateral drag, faster risk response, and improved liquidity access. With tokenized money market funds and stablecoins:

• Capital can earn yield until the moment it’s needed
• On-chain settlement all but eliminates clearing risk
• Smart contracts enable conditional logic for margin calls, liquidation triggers, and collateral top-ups
• Margin calls can be met nearly instantly, even outside of business hours
• Firms can mobilize assets across geographies and platforms without friction

Taken together, these onchain pillars can help to drive a more efficient, resilient, and inclusive financial system — one that meets the demands of a global economy that never sleeps.
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A real-time financial system for real-time markets

Circle is committed to delivering on the promise of a blockchain-based financial system, one where trusted digital assets can move seamlessly across platforms, geographies, and use cases.

Real-time collateral mobility — increasingly essential for both traditional and digital-native institutions — is a fundamental part of that vision. Tokenized money market funds and stablecoins deliver on that foundational need by providing the speed, transparency, and capital efficiency that modern markets demand.

And with blockchain infrastructure maturing and adoption accelerating, the transformation of collateral management is no longer a theoretical future — it’s a practical reality taking shape today.
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^{FOOTNOTES AND DISCLAIMERS:}

^{1. USYC is a digital asset token. Each USYC token serves as a digital representation of a share of the Hashnote International Short Duration Fund Ltd. (the “Fund”), a Cayman Islands registered mutual fund. The Fund has appointed Circle International Bermuda Limited (“CIBL”), a Bermuda Monetary Authority licensed digital asset business, as its token administrator, responsible for the management of USYC on behalf of the Fund.  
Shares of the Fund and USYC are only available to non-U.S. Persons, as defined under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Additional eligibility restrictions may apply. For additional details or to request Fund documentation, please contact [email protected].} 

^{2. USDC is issued by regulated affiliates of Circle. A list of Circle’s regulatory authorizations can be found here.}

^{3. For near-instant redemptions, customers must sign up for a Private Teller; Private Teller fees apply in addition to Standard Fees. Near-instant redemptions may be limited by available liquidity.}

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^{For additional information and other important disclosures, please see here.}