The launch, announced on July 1 and shared with Bitcoin.com News comes via a partnership between STBL and the Stellar Development Foundation. USST runs on STBLs Stable currency 2.0 infrastructure and gives institutional holders of tokenized treasuries a way to access decentralized finance (DeFi) liquidity without giving up their yield-bearing positions.
How USST works
Market participants deposit eligible real-world assets ( RWAs), such as tokenized treasuries or money market funds, to mint USST. The protocol supports settlement, collateral mobility and cross-border payments.
The initial minting will take place on eligible tokenized treasury collateral, starting with USDY. STBL says it plans to add Franklin Templeton’s BENJI as a second collateral option, as part of a broader effort to broaden the pool of assets that institutions can use to support the stable currency.
A decision that institutions have had to deal with
Institutional investors holding tokenized treasuries and money market funds have long been faced with a choice. They can maintain that exposure or convert it to liquidity for DeFi activity. STBL says USST is removing that choice.
“Institutional investors are increasingly holding tokenized government bonds and money market funds, but they still face a trade-off between maintaining DeFi exposure and access liquidity” Dr. Avtar Sehra, CEO and co-founder of STBL, noted on Wednesday.
Sehra added:
“USST puts an end to that trade-off.”
STBL was co-founded by Sehra and Reeve Collins, who also founded Tether. Sehra previously founded Nivaura and Kaio.
Stellar’s role in the RWA push
Stellar has positioned itself as the infrastructure for real-world asset issuance and payments, processing billions of transactions since launch. The Stellar Development Foundation frames the USST integration as part of that broader push.
“As tokenized real-world assets continue to gain momentum, institutions are looking for infrastructure that can provide support liquiditysettlements and utilities,” said Raja Chakravorti, chief business officer of the Stellar Development Foundation.
What this means for traders and investors
For institutional players who already own tokenized treasuries, USST offers a route to onchain liquidity without exiting return-generating positions. This is important for asset managers who weigh participation in DeFi against the returns they already achieve from exposure to government bonds.
STBL’s dual-token architecture also supports third-party stablecoins, including implementations on X-Layer, with USST serving as the backup asset. The company says it will continue to expand its range of eligible collateral over time, opening the door to more asset issuers and RWA providers joining the network.
No launch date has been set for BENJI’s collateral integration. STBL did not disclose the initial coin volume for USST on Stellar.