The tokenised real-world asset market has nearly quadrupled over the past twelve months, growing from $6.4B to $26.6B in on-chain value. Including represented assets, the total addressable market reaches $369B. Ethereum remains the dominant settlement layer with 850K+ token holders, though multi-chain deployment is accelerating.
Despite this explosive growth, the competitive landscape remains dominated by passive T-bill products yielding 4-5% — leaving a significant gap for active, multi-strategy funds that can deliver institutional-grade alpha on-chain.
BlackRock brand, institutional trust, Securitize infrastructure
Single product (T-bills only), low yield, US accredited only, single chain, $5M minimum
Multi-chain, retail accessible, strong DeFi integrations
Low yield, single strategy, no active management, non-US only
Crypto-native founder, growing fast, strong brand in DeFi
Single product, US accredited only, single chain
TradFi brand recognition, early mover advantage
Low yield, limited chain support, institutional focus only
Competitive yield, growing fast, clean UX
Single product, limited distribution channels
AQ Capital's active multi-strategy approach delivers a significant yield premium over passive T-bill competitors.
| Feature | AQ Capital | BlackRock BUIDL | Ondo USDY | Superstate USTB | Franklin BENJI | Hashnote USYC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUM | Launch | $2.85B | $592M | $832M | $689M | $868M |
| Yield | 12.8% | 4.3% | 4.5% | 4.2% | 4.3% | 4.5% |
| Strategy | Active Multi-Strat | T-Bills | T-Bills + Deposits | T-Bills | Money Market | T-Bills + Repo |
| Products | 7 tokens | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| BTC Exposure | Yes (BTC Bond) | No | No | No | No | No |
| Retail Access | Global | US Accred | Non-US | US Accred | US Accred | US Accred |
| Chains | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Token Standard | ERC-3643 | ERC-20 + wrapper | ERC-20 | ERC-20 | Custom | ERC-20 |
| On-chain Compliance | Native (ONCHAINID) | Via Securitize | Manual | Manual | Manual | Manual |
| DeFi Composable | Full | Limited | Yes | Limited | No | Limited |
| Transfer Agent | Securitize | Securitize | In-house | In-house | In-house | In-house |
| Fund Admin | Citco | BNY Mellon | Ankura Trust | Cohen & Co | Franklin | Citadel Securities |
| Min Investment | $1,000 | $5,000,000 | None | $100,000 | $20 | $100,000 |
| Tranching | Yes (Senior/Junior) | No | No | No | No | No |
| Platform Play | Yes (third-party) | No | No | No | No | No |
Green = AQ advantage · Grey = neutral · Red = competitor disadvantage or AQ gap
Six structural advantages that compound over time, creating durable differentiation from passive T-bill competitors.
3× competitors through active strategies — basis trades, vol selling, commodity spreads, and cross-venue arbitrage. Not passive T-bill holdings.
7 token products spanning yield, basis, commodities, rates, BTC bond, and stablecoins. Competitors offer 1-2 products max.
Unique BTC exposure while earning yield — the BTC Bond token lets investors maintain crypto upside with institutional-grade income. No competitor offers this.
Multi-jurisdiction from day one: Cayman → EU → US → UAE → Singapore. Competitors are locked to single jurisdictions (typically US accredited only).
Phase 4 opens the platform for third-party fund managers to tokenise on AQ infrastructure. Creates network effects and recurring revenue streams.
Day-one deployment on Ethereum, Base, Avalanche, and Polygon. Most competitors are single-chain (Ethereum only).
Aspirational AUM targets across the first 24 months — driven by yield advantage, multi-jurisdiction distribution, and multi-product suite.