Robert Leshner's Superstate introduces Ethereum-based tokenized fund

Tokenized asset management firm Superstate has introduced its first product offering — the Superstate Short Duration U.S. Government Securities Fund, USTB.

USTB is a private fund, tokenized on the Ethereum blockchain, immediately available to U.S. qualified purchasers. It provides investors a compliant alternative to traditional funds, according to a statement.

The tokenized fund invests in short-duration U.S. Treasury and U.S. Agency securities. It targets the federal funds rate, with a 0.15% management fee, and is purchasable and redeemable by accepted investors via Circle’s USDC stablecoin.

“USTB is an opportunity to pilot Superstate’s fund tokenization platform, and is the first of many steps to develop regulated investment tokens,” Superstate CEO and co-founder Robert Leshner said. Leshner is also a Partner at VC firm Robot Ventures and the founder of DeFi lending platform Compound.

Superstate said the fund offers the benefit of on-chain transferable ownership — facilitated by USTB’s Ethereum-based allowlist. Peer-to-peer transactions will also be possible in the future, according to the firm.

Investors can self-custody USTB in an on-chain address of their choice, such as a single-signature, multi-signature or multi-party computation wallet. Those who do not want to custody their own assets also have the option to use the U.S.-based custodian and federally chartered crypto bank Anchorage Digital.

Competing with tokenized products

The fund is similar to Franklin Templeton’s on-chain U.S. Government Money Fund, launched in 2021 to become the first U.S.-registered mutual fund using a public blockchain to process transactions and record share ownership.

Superstate filed a prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the fund in July 2023, following the announcement of raising $4 million in seed financing a month prior. “Our vision is to create an SEC registered investment product that over time, competes with stablecoins to become the reserve asset and settlement choice of crypto,” the firm said at the time.

In November, Superstate closed a $14 million Series A funding round co-led by Distributed Global and CoinFund.