Why Proof of Reserves is Vital for Real-World Asset Tokenization

By Decrypt Staff

Digital assets platform Matrixdock is guaranteeing the transparency of its tokenized real-world assets through a new integration with blockchain oracle Chainlink.

Matrixdock’s integration of Chainlink Proof of Reserve allows the Matrixdock STBT PoR feed to automatically update based on data provided by Matrixdock's auditor, which has access to Matrixdock's daily bank statements. This enables users to verify the holdings backing its Short-term Treasury Bill (STBT) token.

"At any given moment, anyone can verify the number of STBT tokens and the dollar value of the assets in the bank account," Ben Stani, business development and sales lead at Matrixport, told Decrypt.

Matrixport subsidiary Matrixdock provides institutional and accredited investors with transparent access to tokenized real-world assets. It offers an unchangeable record of ownership, daily proof of reserve, and complete protection against bankruptcy, "setting a new standard for asset-backed tokens in terms of on-chain transparency," Stani told Decrypt.

The core of Matrixdock’s offering is STBT, an ERC-1400 token that’s backed by short-term U.S. Treasury securities. "We recognized a growing need for tokenizing real-world assets on-chain and started with the simplest version of this product, which is tokenizing U.S. Treasuries," Stani told Decrypt, adding that the token is "arguably safer than most asset-backed stablecoins."

Tokenizing T-bills

Stablecoins have faced increased scrutiny due to their opaque nature, while the collapse of Terra’s UST in 2022 did little to instill confidence among investors. The ongoing bear market has created an appetite among participants in the crypto ecosystem for a more secure method to preserve their capital.

"Tokenizing T-bills is arguably the safest way to keep your dollar assets, as they are backed 100% by the U.S. government, which also backs the U.S. dollar," Stani said. "Given the recent increase in rates over the last 18-24 months, there's been an opportunity in the market to earn that risk-free rate. This has attracted interest from many crypto-native players."

Matrixdock has a diverse clientele. It includes crypto miners, venture capital funds, projects that have raised money and are waiting to deploy it, on-chain projects, vaults, DAOs, and different types of treasuries.

Currently, Matrixdock manages over $120 million in assets and has seen exponential growth since its launch five months ago. "The company's primary focus is on tokenizing U.S. T-bills, with the potential market size being over 100 billion, considering the market cap of total asset-backed stablecoins," Stani told Decrypt. "If you consider the outstanding market cap of U.S. Treasuries, the potential market expands into the trillions."

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