Ondo Finance has announced the launch of its USDY fund—a digital asset backed by short-term U.S. Treasuries and bank deposits—on the Sei Network. The development has been hailed as a pivotal step in bridging traditional finance with decentralized finance (DeFi), offering regulated, yield-generating products directly on-chain. The announcement also triggered a 12.6% surge in the ONDO token price, indicating growing investor enthusiasm around the tokenized real-world asset (RWA) segment.
The launch represents a significant milestone for both Ondo Finance and the Sei Network, as it marks the first instance of U.S. government bond tokenization on a blockchain that is engineered for high scalability. This initiative is seen as a meaningful attempt to integrate traditionally stable financial instruments into the rapidly evolving DeFi landscape. Tokenization of assets such as Treasuries is expected to transform how these instruments are fractionalized, transferred, and owned—making them more accessible and efficient than conventional systems permit.
Ondo Finance has underscored that USDY will be the first of its kind to provide tokenized U.S. Treasury exposure on the Sei Network. This move is designed to bring a reliable, institutional-grade yield product to Sei’s users, who are now being offered exposure to a previously inaccessible corner of the traditional financial market.
The decision to launch on Sei, a Layer-1 blockchain optimized for financial operations, appears to reflect a strategic technological alignment. Sei is recognized for its high throughput and low-latency environment, features that are essential for the smooth functioning of products like USDY that mirror real-world financial instruments. Unlike many general-purpose blockchains, Sei has been purpose-built to support rapid order execution and minimal transaction delay—two core requirements for tokenized assets operating at institutional scale.
Tokenized US Treasury Bills are coming to Sei! 🇺🇸@OndoFinance is bringing its flagship product, USDY, with over $680M in TVL, to the fastest L1 blockchain.
Institutional-grade assets meet institutional-grade infrastructure.
Markets Move Faster on Sei. ($/acc) pic.twitter.com/XE8U1Y9d6q
— Sei (@SeiNetwork) July 17, 2025
Sei’s growing relevance in the DeFi world is further evident in its recent total value locked (TVL) milestone, which reached a record $626 million. This performance signals rising trust among investors and an accelerating adoption curve, making it a favorable ecosystem for launching high-grade financial products like USDY.
Ondo’s decision to work with Sei rather than more saturated blockchain environments also reveals a broader strategic vision. By choosing a less crowded but technologically advanced platform, the firm aims to position itself ahead of competitors while offering enhanced performance to its users.
Additionally, the project has gained traction with key institutions, notably through its association with the World Liberty Financial initiative. This initiative has reportedly chosen the ONDO token as part of its strategic reserve, signaling long-term faith in the project’s viability and governance. The involvement of entities with political affiliations is seen by analysts as a form of implicit endorsement, further validating Ondo’s role in the evolving financial infrastructure of Web3.
Overall, the integration of tokenized U.S. Treasuries into a scalable DeFi environment via Ondo and Sei points to a future where institutional-grade products are increasingly offered in decentralized formats. This not only expands the utility of blockchain platforms but also attracts more cautious, traditional investors into the digital asset space.