Stellar Hosts First Regulated Repo-Style Loan Using Tokenized Treasuries
Ascend Markets and M1X Global completed a regulated short-term collateralized lending pilot on Stellar between October 16 and 19, 2026. The deal used tokenized U.S. Treasury bonds and USDC, ran through a weekend, and settled automatically with a network fee under one cent. Its terms followed SIFMA standards, including a 3.98% annual rate and on-chain compliance checks.
The pilot ran from Oct. 16 to Oct. 19, 2026, and was announced Oct. 23. It paired M1X Global's USDM1 tokens—backed one-to-one by U.S. Treasury bills—with USDC for collateral and settlement. Smart contracts handled collateral lockup, interest accrual, and repayment across the weekend, with automatic 72-hour rollovers and a network cost below one cent.
Terms followed SIFMA guidance and New York law. The annual rate was 3.98%, or 10 basis points above SOFR. A Chainlink oracle tracked collateral value, applying a 2% haircut and a 98% cap. On-chain KYC/AML and identity checks used ERC3643 and SEP57. Stellar held $3.64B in real-world assets at October's end, led by Spicet, Oasis, and Franklin Templeton.
This pilot could affect financial institutions, collateral managers, and settlement teams by showing that tokenized Treasuries may reduce manual weekend processing and clearing dependencies. If such models spread, smaller firms might gain access to faster collateral mobility, while regulators and auditors may face new demands to oversee on-chain compliance. Investors could see lower operational friction, but the societal benefit depends on adoption, safeguards, and whether efficiency gains are shared beyond large intermediaries.