Plume has launched nBND, a new tokenized vault whose primary reserve asset is the Fidelity Total Bond ETF (FBND), a long-standing exchange-traded fund with approximately $28 billion in assets under management, according to an announcement published on Plume's official blog. The new product pairs blockchain investors with exposure under the primary backing of Fidelity's total bond fund, taking the tokenized finance sector deeper into traditional fixed income.

The launch expands the real-world asset (RWA) market — traditional financial instruments represented on blockchain rails — beyond tokenized Treasury bills and money market products, bringing an actively managed bond portfolio into an onchain structure. With nBND, Plume is aiming for a wider, interconnected onchain fixed income market that extends beyond short-term U.S. Treasury products.

A Vault Backed by FBND, Not a Tokenized ETF

At the heart of nBND is the Fidelity Total Bond ETF (FBND), which holds assets worth about $28 billion. Rather than tokenizing the ETF itself, Plume's design uses the fund as the primary reserve asset backing an onchain vault. The vault is represented through a tokenized network, while the actual ETF certificates continue to exist the traditional financial world. In practice, this means nBND functions as an onchain representation of a vault whose reserve sits in FBND shares, rather than as a tokenized share class of the ETF itself.

That distinction matters. Fidelity has not tokenized $28 billion of bonds, nor is nBND the same as FBND tokenizing its entire portfolio. Instead, the structure establishes a connection between an existing bond portfolio and the financial applications that run on blockchain. For holders, exposure to the fund therefore arrives through the vault's reserve arrangement, with FBND itself unchanged.

Active Bond Management Enters the RWA Market

Unlike the Treasury-themed products currently available onchain, which are concentrated in short-term U.S. government debt, FBND offers exposure to a broader range of fixed income. The fund contains government, corporate, and mortgage-backed bonds, along with other fixed-income securities, which give nBND a more diversified bond strategy.

According to Plume CEO and co-founder Chris Yin, institutional investors are not interested in short-duration Treasuries and instead crave duration — exposure to bonds beyond short-term maturities — and onchain active management. That transition could expand the range of real-world assets available onchain across decentralized finance.

Tokenized Treasuries Have Reached $15 Billion

As tokenized U.S. Treasury assets grow, so does Plume. Based on data from the company, the segment increased from approximately $12 billion to $15 billion in the two months from April to June.

Even at that size, tokenized fixed income remains small compared with the global fixed-income market, which stands just shy of $100 trillion. That gap represents a significant opportunity for platforms that offer tokenization solutions. If the trend established by Treasury-backed tokens continues, corporate credit, diversified bond portfolios, and actively managed strategies could follow into the blockchain market.

nBND Targets Programmable Fixed-Income Assets

Plume is marketing nBND primarily as a yield product. At the same time, tokenized vault positions can potentially interact with onchain applications, making financial exposure programmable and opening the door to meaningful collateral use across onchain markets.

In Plume's telling, programmability, portfolio construction, and collateral utility are major drivers of blockchain adoption — themes where Fidelity's investment product leadership could help ignite the potential of traditional investment products on blockchain.

The key test now is adoption. While nBND connects a major traditional bond fund to blockchain infrastructure, the volume of capital that ultimately flows into the vault will dictate the product's success onchain.