Link of The Day
ICD Portal Offering TradeWeb T-Bills
An article titled, "Tradeweb adds T-bill trading to ICD Portal," written by TheTrade, tells us, "Tradeweb has expanded its offering for corporate treasurers, through the launch of direct US Treasury bill (T-bill) trading on its ICD Portal. The move will allow T-bill trading to be available through a direct connection between the firm's ICD Portal and its institutional trading platform. The offering is expected to provide a single integrated solution to help corporate traders using the Portal to manage T-bill investments alongside other core investment options, such as money market funds, separately managed accounts, bank deposits and bond funds." They quote Tory Hazard, managing director at ICD, "The direct T-bill trading capability on ICD Portal -- combined with our advanced price discovery and order execution technologies -- offers corporate clients a powerful, automated workflow that enhances cash management, minimises risk, and supports optimal liquidity." The brief adds, "Tradeweb has also said that the launch marks an initial step towards further corporate treasurer workflow integration across its products, geographies and liquidity pools, set to begin with a focus on trade execution and straight-through processing on highly liquid products and currencies. The new offering follows `Tradeweb's acquisition of ICD -- an institutional investment technology provider for corporate treasury organisations trading short-term investments -- in 2024, with the aim of diversifying Tradeweb's client and business mix and driving the adoption of electronic trading for corporate treasurers."
Stablecoins Poor as Money BIS Warns
The Financial Times writes, "Stablecoins 'perform poorly' as money, central banks warn." They tell us, "Top central bankers have delivered a scathing assessment of stablecoins, saying they 'perform badly' on key requirements for being widely used as money, disavowing US President Donald Trump's push to make them a pillar of mainstream finance. The Bank for International Settlements said stablecoins fail the three main tests of any money because they are not backed by central banks, lack sufficient guardrails against illicit usage and do not have the flexibility of funding needed to generate loans." The piece says, "Stablecoins are designed to act as a bridge between volatile crypto assets such as Bitcoin and traditional monetary systems by tracking the value of fiat currencies with one-for-one backing in safer assets such as government bonds and money market funds. Their creators boast that by transferring money over the internet, they are more efficient than international bank transfers. However, the fact that they can be held anonymously has made them popular with crypto traders and a conduit for crime including drug trafficking and money laundering." The FT adds, "Hyun Song Shin, head of the BIS monetary and economic department, told reporters that stablecoins carried the risk of rapid withdrawals by investors. “It’s really asking, if there are such redemptions in the stablecoin space, what would be the consequences? Governments in the US and UK are introducing regulatory frameworks for stablecoins in response to their growing usage. There are about $250bn in circulation already, dominated by dollar-based tokens such as Tether and Circle's USDC."
Forbes on BlackRock Tokenized MMF
Forbes writes "Major Crypto Exchanges To Accept BlackRock’s $2.9 Billion Tokenized Money Market Fund As Collateral." The piece says, "For years, crypto traders posting collateral on exchanges have faced a tough tradeoff: use stablecoins like USDC or tether, which are, well, stable but pay no yield, or roll the dice with volatile assets like bitcoin and ether, risking a double hit when markets turn south: losses on your trade and on the collateral backing it." They tell us, "BlackRock's BUIDL, the asset manager's first money market fund issued on a public blockchain in partnership with tokenization specialist Securitize, will become accepted as collateral on Crypto.com and Deribit, two of the industry's largest exchanges. That means institutional and experienced traders of these platforms can now post a yield-bearing, blockchain-native version of U.S. Treasurys to back trades. Because BUIDL is both less volatile and income-generating (it currently pays around 4.5% annually), exchanges can offer lower minimum collateral requirements, freeing up more capital for traders to deploy elsewhere." The brief adds, "Since its launch in March 2024, BUIDL has grown to $2.9 billion in assets. Its largest holders include Ondo Finance, which tokenizes real-world assets, and Ethena Labs, the creator of the USDe stablecoin."
Bloomberg on $7.4T MMF Industry
Bloomberg writes "Investors Rush to Pour Cash Into $7.4 Trillion US Money-Market Fund Industry." The article explains, "The rush of cash into the US money-market funds is showing few signs of slowing as it secured a record $7.4 trillion in assets. Investors have poured more than $320 billion into the funds so far this year, according to Crane Data LLC, making it one of the biggest benefactors of the Federal Reserve's current monetary policy. That's something of a surprise for those on Wall Street who’d gone into 2025 assuming officials would lower interest rates and sap the attractive returns offered by the industry." The piece quotes, "$7 trillion can easily be $7.5 trillion in 2025," said Deborah Cunningham, chief investment officer for global liquidity markets at Federated Hermes. "Five-percent-plus rates were nirvana, four-percent-plus is still very good -- and if we dip down into the high threes, that's quite acceptable as well." Bloomberg writes, "The average simple seven-day yield is now 3.95% for government funds and 4.03% for prime, an 8 basis point spread, according to Bank of America Corp. It's a compelling backdrop as some 600 participants gather at the annual Crane's Money Fund Symposium, which kicks off Monday in Boston. Money funds have seen their coffers swell in recent years, notably in early 2020 for their haven appeal and again as the Fed's rate-hiking cycle boosted yields. Even as the Fed pivoted to cutting rates last year, assets continued to rise, with these funds typically slower to pass along the effects of lower rates when compared to banks. Households have been a key driver of the inflows. Since the Fed started raising rates in March 2022, total assets under management in US money funds have swelled by roughly $2.5 trillion, and retail investors have accounted for about 60% of that, Investment Company Institute data show. Data from ICI exclude firms' own internal money funds, unlike Crane Data, which tracks the money market industry."
MMFs in Retirement Plans Up to $936B
The Investment Company Institute also published, "Retirement Assets Total $43.4 Trillion in First Quarter 2025," which includes data tables showing that money market funds held in retirement accounts jumped to $936 billion (up from $880 billion) in the latest quarter, accounting for 13% of the total $6.975 trillion in money funds. MMFs represent just 7.1% of the total $13.1 trillion of mutual funds in retirement accounts. This release says, "Total US retirement assets were $43.4 trillion as of March 31, 2025, down 1.6 percent from December. Retirement assets accounted for 34 percent of all household financial assets in the United States at the end of March 2025. Assets in individual retirement accounts (IRAs) totaled $16.8 trillion at the end of the first quarter of 2025, a decrease of 1.3 percent from the end of the fourth quarter of 2024." It continues, "Defined contribution (DC) plan assets were $12.2 trillion at the end of the first quarter, down 1.9 percent from December 31, 2024. Government defined benefit (DB) plans—including federal, state, and local government plans -- held $8.9 trillion in assets as of the end of March 2025, down 0.9 percent from the end of December 2024. Private-sector DB plans held $3.2 trillion in assets at the end of the first quarter of 2025, and annuity reserves outside of retirement accounts accounted for another $2.4 trillion." The ICI tables also show money funds accounting for $707 billion, or 11%, of the $6.445 trillion in IRA mutual fund assets and $229 billion, or 3%, of the $6.685 trillion in defined contribution plan holdings. (Money funds in 401k plans totaled $153 billion, or 3% of the $5.341 trillion of mutual funds in 401k's.)
ICI: MMF Assets Rise to $7.03 Trillion
ICI's latest weekly "Money Market Fund Assets" shows money fund assets rising $8.5 billion to $7.015 trillion, after falling $9.3 billion the week prior. Money fund assets remain just below their record level of $7.032 trillion set on April 2. They've increased by $711.5 billion (or 11.3%) since the Fed last cut rates on 9/18/24 and increasing by $1.038 trillion (or 17.4%) since 4/24/24. MMF assets are up by $917 billion, or 15.0%, in the past 52 weeks (through 6/18/25), with Institutional MMFs up $482 billion, or 13.2% and Retail MMFs up $435 billion, or 17.7%. Year-to-date, MMF assets are up by just $165 billion, or 2.4%, with Institutional MMFs up $8 billion, or 0.2% and Retail MMFs up $156 billion, or 5.7%. ICI's weekly release says, "Total money market fund assets increased by $8.50 billion to $7.02 trillion for the six-day period ended Tuesday, June 17.... Among taxable money market funds, government funds increased by $5.87 billion and prime funds increased by $1.46 billion. Tax-exempt money market funds increased by $1.17 billion." ICI's stats show Institutional MMFs increasing $3.9 billion and Retail MMFs increasing $4.6 billion in the latest week. Total Government MMF assets, including Treasury funds, were $5.715 trillion (81.5% of all money funds), while Total Prime MMFs were $1.160 trillion (16.5%). Tax Exempt MMFs totaled $139.2 billion (2.0%). It explains, "Assets of retail money market funds increased by $4.60 billion to $2.89 trillion. Among retail funds, government money market fund assets increased by $3.92 billion to $1.82 trillion, prime money market fund assets were unchanged at $944.47 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets increased by $685 million to $126.54 billion." Retail assets account for well over a third of total assets, or 41.2%, and Government Retail assets make up 63.0% of all Retail MMFs. They add, "Assets of institutional money market funds increased by $3.90 billion to $4.12 trillion. Among institutional funds, government money market fund assets increased by $1.96 billion to $3.89 trillion, prime money market fund assets increased by $1.46 billion to $215.97 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets increased by $482 million to $12.67 billion." Institutional assets accounted for 58.8% of all MMF assets, with Government Institutional assets making up 94.5% of all institutional MMF totals. According to Crane Data's separate Money Fund Intelligence Daily series, money fund assets have decreased by $19.3 billion in June (through 6/17/25) to $7.381 trillion, after assets hit a record high of $7.406 trillion on June 3. Assets jumped by $100.9 billion in May, fell by $24.4 billion in April, they rose $2.8 trillion in March, $94.2 billion in February, $52.8 billion in January, $110.9 billion in December, $200.5 trillion in November, $97.5 billion in October, $149.8 billion in September, $109.7 billion in August, $16.6 billion in July, and $15.7 billion last June. Note that ICI's asset totals don't include a number of funds tracked by the SEC and Crane Data, so they're over $330 billion lower than Crane's asset series.
Barron's: Senate Passes Stablecoin Bill
Barron's writes, "Senate Passes Stablecoin Bill as Crypto Eyes a Bigger Prize." They tell us, "The Senate passed a bill Tuesday evening to regulate stablecoins, the lifeblood of the crypto market, awarding the industry a victory it has sought for years. The industry's bigger goals will be harder to achieve, and risk muddying Tuesday's win.... It would establish rules for stablecoins, a type of crypto token that is most often pegged to the dollar and backed by reserves.... The bill will now head to the House of Representatives. Some lawmakers hope to get it to President Donald Trump's desk by the end of July. Among other provisions, the bill -- called the Genius Act -- limits stablecoin reserves to safe, liquid assets, such as Treasuries, clarifies how they're regulated, and creates a path for banks to issue their own coins." It adds, "Right now, stablecoins are primarily used on crypto exchanges to trade for other tokens, such as Bitcoin. But crypto and financial industry executives think that the coins could one day dominate payments, competing with bank and wire transfers and credit cards. Tether Holdings issues the largest stablecoin, USDT, which has a market value of $155 billion. Circle Internet Group, which recently held an initial public offering, issues the second-largest, USDC, with a $61.6 billion value."
Crane 100 Index Remains at 4.10%
Money fund yields (7-day, annualized, simple, net) remained flat at 4.10% on average during the week ended Friday, June 13 (as measured by our Crane 100 Money Fund Index), after decreasing by two basis points the previous week. Fund yields should stay relatively flat until the Fed moves rates again later this year. They've declined by 96 bps since the Fed first cut its Fed funds target rate by 50 bps on Sept. 18, 2024, and they've declined by 53 bps since the Fed last cut rates by 1/4 point on 11/7/24. Yields were 4.10% on 5/31, 4.13% on 4/30/25, 4.14% on 3/31/25, 4.16% on 2/28/25, 4.19% on 1/31/25, 4.28% on average on 12/31/24, 4.45% on 11/30/24, 4.65% on 10/31, 4.75% on 9/30, 5.10% on 8/31, 5.13% on 7/31 and 6/28, 5.14% on 3/31 and 5.20% on 12/31/23. The broader Crane Money Fund Average, which includes all taxable funds tracked by Crane Data (currently 682), shows a 7-day yield of 4.00%, down 1 bp in the week through Friday. Prime Inst money fund yields were unchanged at 4.24% in the latest week. Government Inst MFs were down 1 bp at 4.10%. Treasury Inst MFs were unchanged at 4.05%. Treasury Retail MFs currently yield 3.81%, Government Retail MFs yield 3.80%, and Prime Retail MFs yield 3.99%, Tax-exempt MF 7-day yields were up 53 bps to 2.38%. Assets of money market funds fell by $31.0 billion last week to $7.346 trillion, according to Crane Data's Money Fund Intelligence Daily. Two weeks prior MMF assets hit a record high of $7.406 trillion (on June 3) after their previous high of $7.400 trillion set on May 30. For the month of June (MTD), MMF assets have decreased $54.1 billion after increasing by $100.9 billion in May, decreasing $24.4 billion in April, increasing by $2.8 billion in March, $94.2 billion in February, $52.8 billion in January, $110.9 billion in December, $200.5 billion in November, $97.5 billion in October and $149.8 billion in September. Weighted average maturities were at 39 days for the Crane MFA and 39 days the Crane 100 Money Fund Index. According to Monday's Money Fund Intelligence Daily, with data as of Friday (6/13), 116 money funds (out of 794 total) yield under 3.0% with $143.7 billion in assets, or 2.0%; 263 funds yield between 3.00% and 3.99% ($1.557 trillion, or 21.2%), 415 funds yield between 4.0% and 4.99% ($5.646 trillion, or 76.9%) and following the recent rate cut there continue to be zero funds yielding 5.0% or more. Our Brokerage Sweep Intelligence Index, an average of FDIC-insured cash options from major brokerages, was unchanged at 0.40%, after falling 1 bp four weeks prior. The latest Brokerage Sweep Intelligence, with data as of June 13, shows no changes over the past week. Three of the 10 major brokerages tracked by our BSI still offer rates of 0.01% for balances of $100K (and lower tiers). These include: E*Trade, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley.
Barron's on Treasury Bill ETFs
Barron's writes "These Are the Hottest Bond ETFs This Year—and for Good Reason." The article tells us, "Treasury bills have rarely been more attractive, and exchange-traded funds make owning them easier than ever.... Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett has long stashed the bulk of the company's ample cash reserves in Treasury bills because they're the safest short-term bond investments. Berkshire now holds over $300 billion of Treasury bills, or about 5% of the entire $6 trillion market. Retail investors are also getting in on the act: Noncompetitive bids at Treasury auctions, a reflection of retail demand, are running at about $15 billion a month." The piece says, "Reflecting the boom in fixed-income exchange-traded funds, Treasury-bill ETFs are rapidly gaining in popularity and challenging money-market funds and bank deposits as a place for retail investors to park cash. T-bill ETFs now hold over $100 billion in assets, but are dwarfed by money-market funds, which have $7 trillion in assets. The two largest are the $48 billion iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF, which launched in 2020, and the $44 billion SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF, which has been around since 2007. Vanguard entered the market in early 2025 with the Vanguard Ultra-Short Treasury ETF, which has an annual fee of just 0.07%, against 0.09% for the iShares ETF and 0.14% for the SPDR ETF. They yield in the 4.2% to 4.3% range. The iShares ETF has attracted $18 billion of inflows so far this year, the most of any bond ETF." Barron's adds, "The T-bill ETFs, however, offer advantages over buying direct, including simplicity, a diversified pool of securities, monthly income, and ready liquidity on the NYSE or Nasdaq. One benefit over money-market funds is taxes. Interest on T-bills is exempt from state and local taxes, a nice plus for investors in states like New York and California where income-tax rates can top 10%. CD interest is subject to state and local taxes, as is much or all income from money funds, including many popular 'government' funds."
ICI's latest weekly "Money Market Fund Assets" shows money fund assets falling $9.3 billion to $7.007 trillion, after jumping $66.8 billion the week prior. Money fund assets remain just below their record level of $7.032 trillion set on April 2. They've increased by $703.0 billion (or 11.2%) since the Fed last cut rates on 9/18/24 and increasing by $1.029 trillion (or 17.2%) since 4/24/24. MMF assets are up by $886 billion, or 14.5%, in the past 52 weeks (through 6/11/25), with Institutional MMFs up $448 billion, or 12.2% and Retail MMFs up $438 billion, or 17.9%. Year-to-date, MMF assets are up by just $156 billion, or 2.3%, with Institutional MMFs up $4 billion, or 0.1% and Retail MMFs up $152 billion, or 5.5%. ICI's weekly release says, "Total money market fund assets decreased by $9.34 billion to $7.01 trillion for the week ended Wednesday, June 11.... Among taxable money market funds, government funds decreased by $7.96 billion and prime funds increased by $975 million. Tax-exempt money market funds decreased by $2.35 billion." ICI's stats show Institutional MMFs decreasing $7.8 billion and Retail MMFs decreasing $1.6 billion in the latest week. Total Government MMF assets, including Treasury funds, were $5.709 trillion (81.5% of all money funds), while Total Prime MMFs were $1.159 trillion (16.5%). Tax Exempt MMFs totaled $138.0 billion (2.0%). It explains, "Assets of retail money market funds decreased by $1.58 billion to $2.89 trillion. Among retail funds, government money market fund assets decreased by $2.37 billion to $1.82 trillion, prime money market fund assets increased by $2.73 billion to $944.48 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets decreased by $1.94 billion to $125.85 billion." Retail assets account for well over a third of total assets, or 41.2%, and Government Retail assets make up 62.9% of all Retail MMFs. They add, "Assets of institutional money market funds decreased by $7.76 billion to $4.12 trillion. Among institutional funds, government money market fund assets decreased by $5.59 billion to $3.89 trillion, prime money market fund assets decreased by $1.76 billion to $214.51 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets decreased by $414 million to $12.19 billion." Institutional assets accounted for 58.8% of all MMF assets, with Government Institutional assets making up 94.5% of all institutional MMF totals. According to Crane Data's separate Money Fund Intelligence Daily series, money fund assets have decreased by $18.2 billion in June (through 6/11/25) to $7.382 trillion, after assets hit a record high of $7.406 trillion on June 3. Assets jumped by $100.9 billion in May, fell by $24.4 billion in April, they rose $2.8 trillion in March, $94.2 billion in February, $52.8 billion in January, $110.9 billion in December, $200.5 trillion in November, $97.5 billion in October, $149.8 billion in September, $109.7 billion in August, $16.6 billion in July, and $15.7 billion last June. Note that ICI's asset totals don't include a number of funds tracked by the SEC and Crane Data, so they're over $330 billion lower than Crane's asset series.
European MF Symposium in Dublin
While we're making final plans for our upcoming Money Fund Symposium, which is scheduled for June 23-25, 2025 at The Renaissance Boston Seaport, in Boston, Mass, we're also making plans for our next European Money Fund Symposium, which is scheduled for Sept. 22-23, 2025, in Dublin, Ireland. (Note: We shifted the dates of this event to Sept. 22-23 to avoid sold-out hotels the weekend of Sept. 26-28 due to the Steelers game in Dublin.) Our 2024 event in London attracted a record 210 attendees, so we expect our 2025 event to once again be the biggest money market event in Europe. The agenda has been posted and registration ($1000 to attend) is now live. European Money Fund Symposium offers "offshore" money fund portfolio managers, and money market investors, issuers, dealers and service providers a concentrated and affordable educational experience, as well as an excellent and informal networking venue. Finally, mark your calendars for our next Money Fund University "basic training" event, scheduled for Dec. 18-19, 2025, in Pittsburgh, Pa. Let us know if you'd like more details on any of our events, and we hope to see you in Newport Beach this month, in Boston in June, in Dublin in September or in Pittsburgh in December!
Reuters on Stablecoins, Treasury Risk
Reuters writes, "Stablecoins' step toward mainstream could shake up parts of US Treasury market." The article says, "As stablecoins take a step toward becoming mainstream, some segments of the U.S. Treasury market, notably securities with short-term maturities, could be vulnerable to volatility as they become more closely tied to the world of cryptocurrency. Congress is poised to pass legislation establishing a regulatory framework for stablecoins, expected to help legitimize the dollar-pegged cryptocurrencies which are commonly used by crypto traders to move funds between tokens. Proponents of the bill argue that clear rules will spur further stablecoin activity, and support a growing sector of buyers of short-term U.S. government debt, or T-bills, that are typically considered cash-equivalent securities. But others worry a larger footprint for a relatively new and more volatile industry could in turn spur volatility in the bills market." They quote Cristiano Ventricelli, vice president and senior analyst of digital assets at Moody's Ratings, "In the event of a sudden loss of confidence, regulatory pressure, or market rumors, this could trigger large-scale liquidations, potentially depressing Treasury prices and disrupting fixed-income markets." The piece tells us, "If signed into law, the stablecoin bill would require tokens to be backed by liquid assets -- like U.S. dollars and short-term Treasury bills -- and monthly disclosures from issuers on the composition of their reserves. That means if stablecoins are expected to grow, issuers will have to purchase more T-bills to back their assets. The bill could be passed by the Senate as early as [this] week and could eventually increase the amount of U.S. Treasuries held by stablecoin issuers such as Tether and Circle, the latter of which debuted on the NYSE [last] Thursday. They together hold $166 billion in U.S. Treasuries, according to a report by Bain & Company's financial services practice." Reuters adds, "The stablecoin market, currently about $247 billion according to crypto data provider CoinGecko, could grow to $2 trillion by 2028 if legislation were to pass, Standard Chartered estimated.... Currently, there are about $29 trillion in Treasury securities outstanding, of which $6 trillion are bills.... In an April research note, JP Morgan analysts estimated that stablecoin issuers could become the third-largest buyer of Treasury bills in the coming years. That raises red flags for some, who worry that would lead to closer ties between the crypto ecosystem and the traditional financial world. The Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee, a group of banks and investors that advise the government on its funding, said in a study in April that growth of the stablecoin market at the expense of bank deposits could reduce banks' demand for U.S. Treasuries, as well as have an impact on credit growth." Finally, they write, "Money market funds, which invest in short-term debt, could be impacted. Money market expert Pete Crane, president of Crane Data, said money funds are watching stablecoin closely but the size of the market would have to become significantly bigger to create concerns over financial stability. 'Treasury bills are normally so short (in maturity) that people don't concern themselves with price movements, but of course in case of a rapid liquidation the price is going to go down,' he said. Issues with stablecoins have not so far been large enough to cause systemic problems but the calculus could shift if federal legislation were to spur widespread adoption. In 2022, a meltdown in the crypto markets sent Tether's stablecoin below its dollar peg, which caused no impact on the Treasury market. At the time, then-U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said stablecoins like Tether didn't pose a systemic risk to the financial system because they were too small in scale. In 2023, Circle's USD Coin also lost its dollar peg after the company revealed it held a portion of its reserves at failed Silicon Valley Bank. Circle and Tether declined comment. Still, some argue that there could be benefits from increasing demand for government debt."
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