Bank of New York Mellon (BNY), the oldest bank in the United States and one of the world's largest custodian banks, is preparing to support round-the-clock settlement for U.S. Treasuries after successfully completing an after-hours transaction tied to stablecoin reserves earlier this year. The initiative comes in response to growing demand from digital asset markets that operate continuously, exposing a structural mismatch: stablecoins trade 24/7 but the U.S. government securities underpinning them settle only during weekday windows.

According to a client letter reported by Bloomberg, BNY plans to test tokenized Treasuries by the end of 2026 and introduce 24/7 settlement for both conventional and tokenized Treasuries in 2027.

After-Hours Stablecoin Trade Demonstrates Feasibility

The earlier transaction took place after the Federal Reserve's Fedwire Securities Service had closed for the day. Ripple participated directly through its RLUSD stablecoin, while Dreyfus represented OpenEden and its USDO stablecoin.

Tradeweb Markets executed the Treasury transaction, and BNY settled it shortly afterward using its existing cash settlement infrastructure. The securities themselves were not tokenized.

The test demonstrated that Treasury transactions supporting stablecoin reserves could continue beyond the normal settlement window. Both RLUSD and USDO hold short-term U.S. Treasuries as reserve assets, but those securities still rely on weekday settlement schedules despite continuous stablecoin trading. This gap leaves stablecoin issuers unable to rebalance reserves during nights, weekends, and holidays — precisely when crypto markets are most active and volatility can spike.

BNY Outlines Tokenized Treasury Roadmap

Following the transaction, BNY detailed its next development phases. According to the client letter, the bank will launch tokenized Treasury products and begin pilot transactions on its private blockchain before the end of 2026.

Additionally, BNY plans to expand its settlement network later this year to support activity across Asian, European, and U.S. trading hours. The bank currently processes approximately $2.5 trillion in daily payments and clears an average of about $24.3 trillion every day across its networks.

Earlier this year, BNY introduced tokenized deposit balances for institutional clients, providing an onchain representation of commercial bank money. The bank joins a wave of major financial institutions building tokenized Treasury infrastructure, a category that includes BlackRock's BUIDL fund and Franklin Templeton's BENJI product, both of which have attracted hundreds of millions in assets from investors seeking onchain yield.

Ripple and OpenEden Participate

BNY already serves as the primary custodian for RLUSD reserves and provides custody and investment management services for OpenEden's tokenized Treasury fund.

According to Bloomberg, the growing use of tokenized Treasury products reflects increasing interest in blockchain-based financial infrastructure. Data from rwa.xyz shows tokenized real-world assets have grown to approximately $35 billion since 2025.

Ripple Senior Vice President Jack McDonald acknowledged the development, congratulating BNY Global and stating that RLUSD would support the move toward always-on Treasury markets and institutional digital asset infrastructure.