T-bill (US Treasury bill)
T-billtreasury bill
A short-duration (≤ 1 year) US government debt instrument — the primary reserve asset for major fiat-backed stables.
T-bills are the highest-quality liquid USD instrument. Major stablecoin issuers hold reserves in cash + ≤ 90-day T-bills + reverse-repo facilities, balancing yield with redemption-window readiness. Tokenised T-bill products (BlackRock BUIDL, Ondo OUSG) bring this exposure on-chain.
Related terms
- ReservesThe assets backing a stablecoin's outstanding liabilities — for fiat-backed stables, predominantly cash + Treasuries.
- DurationA measure of price sensitivity to interest-rate changes, expressed in years.
- RWA (real-world assets)Tokenised off-chain assets — Treasuries, money-market funds, credit pools, real estate — used as on-chain collateral or yield products.
- Money-market fundA regulated mutual fund holding short-duration government / corporate paper, structured to maintain stable NAV.