Drift is excited to announce a partnership with Ondo Finance, the leading tokenized real-world asset provider, which will enable the integration of real-world assets into Solana DeFi. This partnership is the first of its kind and marks the start of bringing utility for real-world assets on-chain. It also marks Drift’s first step into integrating institutional assets on-chain. 

“Drift’s mission is to build a fully on-chain platform where traders can trade any asset using any collateral. This partnership with Ondo Finance brings us a step closer to that vision, bringing more utility to tokenized real-world assets and increasing capital efficiency for traders,” said Cindy Leow, co-founder of Drift.

Unlocking the Potential of Tokenized RWAs

The partnership will kick off by bringing USDY onto Drift as collateral for margin trading and perpetuals. USDY is an alternative to stablecoins, backed by short-term US treasuries and generating 5.30% APY as of writing.

This marks the first time that assets such as tokenized treasury bills have ever been integrated as collateral on a perpetuals platform.

Holders of USDY on Solana will be able to utilize it as collateral when trading perpetual contracts on Drift. This effectively allows users to trade perpetual contracts using T-Bills as margin, creating a new level of capital efficiency. Beyond acting as trading collateral, users will be able to deposit and borrow USDY on Drift, further increasing the opportunities available.

Users no longer have to choose between generating yield on stablecoins or using them as collateral for trading. With this integration, users can earn yield and trade simultaneously – generating yield on collateral while executing trades.

Justin Schmidt, President & COO of Ondo Finance commented "The integration of USDY with Drift significantly enhances capital efficiency for perpetual traders on Solana and signifies the beginning of a new era in DeFi.”

The initial integration of USDY is just the beginning, with a view to onboard more users, both retail and institutional, into DeFi. Both teams will continue to expand the breadth and depth of the partnership in the months to come, with the goal of bringing more assets onchain and increasing utility for traders.

Note: USDY is not, and may not be, offered, sold or otherwise made available in the US or to US persons. USDY also has not been registered under the US Securities Act.

About Ondo Finance

Ondo Finance provides institutional-grade, blockchain-enabled investment products and services. Ondo has an asset management arm that creates and manages tokenized financial products as well as a technology arm that develops decentralized finance protocols and other blockchain solutions. 

Ondo’s first core products are yieldcoins that deliver very low risk, high-quality yield from US Treasuries, money market funds, and similar instruments, offering onchain investors an alternative to stablecoins where holders, rather than issuers, earn the vast majority of the underlying asset yield.