Crypto startup Hamilton has launched tokenized United States Treasury bonds on Bitcoin layer-2 blockchains. The company claims the launch is the first of its kind.
Hamilton U.S. T-Bills (HUST) will be available on the Stacks, Core and BoB (Build on Bitcoin) Bitcoin layer-2 solutions. The first transaction with HUST occurred on July 4, according to a statement.
The stability of the BTC network and a yield better than stablecoin
The use of Bitcoin layer-2 decentralized finance ecosystems combines the stability of the Bitcoin network and the reliability of the U.S. dollar, the company stated. Bitcoin layer-2s enhance the network’s scalability and functionality. Hamilton co-founder and CEO Kasstawi said:
“Combining US Treasury bills with Bitcoin’s security and transparency marks a historic step towards financial independence, providing crucial exposure to emerging markets.”
The Hamilton executive was only identified as Kasstawi. There is an investor in the blockchain space named Mohamed Elkasstawi.
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Bitcoin layer-2s take off as layer-1 slows down
Tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), such as T-Bills, real estate, securities and similar financial instruments, can take part in the Web3 economy by being swapped, transferred and leveraged. They have reached $8 billion in total value locked. The U.S. Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy has made T-Bills competitive with stablecoin yields with a much lower risk.
Since 2023, the Bitcoin network has had three token standards. In addition, to Bitcoin (BTC), Ordinals were introduced at the beginning of that year to enable the issuance of non-fungible tokens inscribed on satoshis. In April 2024, Runes was introduced to enable the issuance of altcoins directly on the Bitcoin blockchain.
The increased traffic on the Bitcoin network, leading to slower processing times and higher fees, has been a driver of Bitcoin layer-2 development. The Bitcoin layer-2 Lightning Network was developed to process BTC transfers faster than on layer-1.
Layer-2s also make it possible to carry out smart-contract dependent decentralized finance, so-called BTCfi, on the Bitcoin network.
HUST host Core DAO operates a layer-1 blockchain in addition to its BTC layer-2 solution. It has received support from cryptocurrency exchanges from Bitget and MEXC.
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