Buying tokenized T-bills in 2026 takes one of two routes. Institutions and qualified purchasers onboard through Securitize for BUIDL (BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund, $2.68B of supply on DeFiLlama as of September 15, 2026) or through Ondo for OUSG ($147M of TVL on Ondo's OUSG page on the same date). Non-US retail buyers use USDY from Ondo directly. Franklin Templeton's BENJI sits between the two tiers. The KYC tier, minimum, and settlement chain differ for each.
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This guide walks through the institutional route, the retail route, the KYC tier comparison, settlement mechanics, and redemption. Every step references the issuer's onboarding portal so a reader can follow the chain end-to-end. Supply figures come from DeFiLlama and from each issuer's own product page, read on September 15, 2026.
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Tokenized T-bills are blockchain-issued shares of a regulated fund that holds short-duration US Treasury securities. Each token represents a claim on the underlying fund. Yield accrues onchain through daily or monthly rebases, dividend tokens, or NAV-bearing share prices. The three largest onchain Treasury wrappers alone carry billions: DeFiLlama shows BUIDL at $2.68B, Circle's USYC at $2.60B and Ondo's USDY at $2.24B on September 15, 2026.
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The wrapper varies by issuer. BUIDL is structured as a Reg D 506(c) fund administered by Securitize Capital. OUSG is a Cayman-domiciled feeder into short-term Treasury ETFs and reverse repos. USDY is a Reg S note issued offshore for non-US persons. BENJI is the onchain share class of Franklin Templeton's OnChain US Government Money Fund (FOBXX), a registered '40 Act fund. Each wrapper sets the KYC tier and the eligible investor pool.
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The fundamental tradeoff: regulatory access. A Reg D fund like BUIDL admits qualified purchasers after KYC, at a $5 million minimum investment per Securitize's BUIDL fund page. A Reg S note like USDY is offered to non-US persons with a lower minimum and lighter onboarding, but is not available to US residents at issuance. See the cluster Top tokenized treasury funds for the full landscape.
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BUIDL is purchased through Securitize, BlackRock's tokenization transfer agent and broker-dealer. The flow runs: create a Securitize ID, complete entity KYC and accreditation review, sign subscription documents, wire USD to the fund's custody account, receive BUIDL tokens to a whitelisted wallet. Minimum investment is $5 million and the fund is open to qualified purchasers. Settlement is on Aptos, Arbitrum, Avalanche, Ethereum, Optimism, or Polygon, all per Securitize's BUIDL fund page.
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The detailed steps:

The yield accrues as a daily dividend distribution: BUIDL pays in additional BUIDL tokens minted to holder wallets on the first business day of each month. Real-time NAV is posted by the transfer agent. As of September 15, 2026, BUIDL has $2.68 billion of supply per DeFiLlama, the largest single tokenized treasury fund it tracks.
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OUSG is Ondo's institutional Treasury fund. Direct subscription mirrors the BUIDL flow (KYC, accreditation, subscription documents, wire) through Ondo's platform, at the minimum Ondo's OUSG page publishes, currently a $5,000 instant mint with no fee. Settlement is on Ethereum, Polygon, Solana, Sui, and Mantle. OUSG held $147M of TVL on September 15, 2026 per that same page.
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OUSG uniquely supports instant mint and redeem from a $5,000 minimum using USDC through a smart-contract subscription gateway. The flow: complete Ondo KYC, deposit USDC, receive OUSG, hold for yield, redeem for USDC any business day. Yield rebases through a NAV-bearing token model; the OUSG share price rises daily as Treasury coupons accrue, rather than minting new tokens.
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OUSG's underlying assets are short-duration Treasury ETFs (primarily BlackRock's iShares 0-1 Year Treasury Bond ETF, SHV), reverse repos, and direct T-bills. Composition is disclosed in the monthly fund report. For institutions who want OUSG exposure without direct subscription, listed brokers like Fireblocks and Anchorage Digital support custody and transfer of whitelisted positions.
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USDY is Ondo's retail-facing yield token, issued under Regulation S as a tokenized note backed by short-term Treasuries and bank demand deposits. It is offered to non-US persons only. As of September 15, 2026, USDY has $2.24 billion of supply per DeFiLlama and trades on multiple chains including Ethereum, Solana, Sui, Aptos, Mantle, and Noble (Cosmos).
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The onboarding flow is lighter than BUIDL or OUSG. A non-US individual completes KYC through Ondo's portal: passport upload, proof of address, sanctions and PEP screen, jurisdiction attestation. After approval, the buyer deposits USDC and receives USDY at NAV. There is no stated minimum subscription; in practice $500 is the lowest practical entry given gas costs. USDY is freely transferable between any wallets after a 40-day Reg S seasoning period.
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Yield on USDY accrues through a rising token price (NAV-bearing model, same as OUSG). The annualized yield tracks the Secured Overnight Financing Rate minus a fund fee. Holders can also use a rebasing wrapper called rUSDY for accounts that prefer constant-price tokens with balance growth. The note structure means USDY is a debt instrument, not a fund share; holders are creditors of the issuer, Ondo USDY LLC.
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KYC tiers split tokenized T-bills into three groups: accredited-only Reg D funds, qualified-purchaser '40 Act funds with broker access, and Reg S retail notes for non-US persons. BUIDL and OUSG sit in tier 1. BENJI sits in tier 2 with retail-accessible share classes through Franklin Templeton's app. USDY sits in tier 3. Each tier specifies minimum subscription, wallet whitelisting, and transfer restrictions.
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The table below summarizes the access requirements for the five most widely held tokenized T-bill products as of Q1 2026.
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The practical implication: a US individual investor without accreditation has limited direct access to tokenized T-bills. BENJI through Franklin Templeton's consumer app is the primary retail path: the FOBXX prospectus puts the minimum initial purchase at $20 for most accounts. Everything else requires institutional onboarding or non-US residency. The SEC accreditation rules set the threshold at $1M net worth excluding primary residence or $200K income.
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Settlement happens in two halves: the fiat leg (USD wire or USDC transfer to the fund's custody account) and the token leg (mint to a whitelisted wallet on the chosen chain). For BUIDL and OUSG direct subscriptions, the fiat leg settles T+0 or T+1 through a bank wire, and tokens mint within one to three business days after KYC and AML clear. For USDY and BENJI retail flows, settlement is typically same-day after onboarding.
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The token leg uses each issuer's whitelisted transfer contract. BUIDL enforces transferability through Securitize's onchain registry: any transfer to a non-whitelisted address reverts. OUSG and USDY use similar gating on their respective contracts. BENJI on Stellar and other chains uses Franklin Templeton's on-chain transfer agent with the same whitelist logic.
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For institutions integrating tokenized T-bills into treasury operations, custody choice matters. Fireblocks, BitGo, and Anchorage Digital all support BUIDL, OUSG, and USDY as approved assets. The custodian whitelists the operating wallet with each issuer and handles transfer signatures through MPC or HSM-based key management. Multi-chain settlement adds complexity; a treasury holding BUIDL on Ethereum and OUSG on Solana needs custody coverage on both.
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Redemption converts tokens back to USD or USDC. For BUIDL, redemption is daily T+0 through Securitize: the holder submits a redemption request, BUIDL tokens are burned, and USD wires to the holder's bank account by end of business. OUSG offers instant USDC redemption from its published $5,000 minimum through its smart-contract gateway, or USD wire redemption on a T+1 schedule. USDY accepts USDC redemption requests through Ondo's portal, settled T+1 to T+2.
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BENJI redemption flows through Franklin Templeton's broker channel: tokens are presented for redemption at NAV, fiat settles to the registered bank account on the standard money-market timetable (usually T+0 or T+1). USTB from Superstate runs a similar T+1 redemption window. Redemption fees vary; BUIDL and OUSG charge no redemption fee on direct flows, while wrapper or DEX routes may price in a small spread.
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Secondary-market liquidity is limited but growing. BUIDL has a permissioned secondary market through Securitize Markets ATS. OUSG and USDY trade thinly on DEX pools (paired against USDC) on chains where the contracts deploy. For institutions sizing positions, primary subscription and redemption remain the deepest liquidity channels. The rwa.xyz dashboard tracks daily transfer volume per product.
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Tokenized T-bill products deploy on multiple chains, which means a treasury holding BUIDL on Ethereum and OUSG on Solana needs cross-chain settlement when rebalancing or aggregating yield. Eco Routes provides intent-based cross-chain transfer for stablecoins (the redemption asset for OUSG and USDY). When an institution redeems OUSG for USDC on Solana and wants to consolidate on Ethereum, Eco Routes settles the USDC transfer with execution guarantees and partner-rail routing through Hyperlane and CCTP. See the Ondo USDY pillar for the deep stablecoin context.
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The minimum depends on the product. BUIDL has a $5 million minimum for qualified purchasers per Securitize's BUIDL fund page, OUSG mints instantly from $5,000 per Ondo's OUSG page, BENJI starts at a $20 initial purchase per the FOBXX prospectus, Superstate publishes no minimum for USTB, and USDY has no stated minimum.
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No. USDY is issued under Regulation S and is offered exclusively to non-US persons. US residents are blocked at KYC. The retail path for US persons is BENJI through Franklin Templeton's app, or OUSG if accredited and meeting the minimum Ondo publishes.
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Yield accrues in one of two models. Dividend tokens (BUIDL, BENJI) mint additional tokens to holder wallets on a monthly or daily schedule. NAV-bearing tokens (OUSG, USDY, USTB) keep token balance constant and let the per-token price rise daily as Treasury coupons accrue.
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The underlying Treasuries are held by an independent custodian (BNY Mellon for BUIDL, similar arrangements for OUSG and BENJI). Token holders have a claim on the fund's assets, not the issuer's balance sheet. The wrapper type matters: '40 Act funds (BENJI) have SIPC-style protections; Reg D and Reg S funds rely on the underlying custody arrangement and bankruptcy-remote structure.
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Partially. All major products enforce whitelisting on their transfer contracts. BUIDL is only transferable between Securitize-KYCed wallets. OUSG and USTB use similar gating. USDY is freely transferable after the 40-day Reg S seasoning period. BENJI transfers run through Franklin Templeton's onchain transfer agent.
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Sources and methodology. Supply figures come from DeFiLlama and from Ondo's OUSG page, both read on September 15, 2026. Minimums are quoted only where the issuer publishes them: Securitize's BUIDL fund page for BUIDL, Ondo's OUSG page for OUSG, and the FOBXX prospectus for BENJI. Superstate publishes no minimum for USTB, so none is quoted. Yield mechanics are described from each issuer's own product pages, not measured.
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Tokenized T-bills give institutions and retail buyers programmable access to Treasury yield, with the access tier determined by the regulatory wrapper. Pick the route that matches your accreditation status and jurisdiction, complete the issuer's KYC, and plan custody and cross-chain movement before subscribing.
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