February 25, 2026—WisdomTree, a leading US asset management firm, officially announced that its WisdomTree U.S. Treasury Money Market Digital Fund (WTGXX) now offers 24/7 trading and instant settlement. While this product update may seem straightforward, it marks the most significant breakthrough in traditional fund regulatory frameworks since the invention of ETFs.
The exemption granted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) not only opened the door for WisdomTree, but also signaled to the market that real-world assets (RWA) powered by code are irreversibly breaking down the "wall of time" that has long separated traditional finance.
SEC’s Historic Exemption: From "Factory Model" to "Convenience Store Model"
To appreciate the significance of this approval, we need to revisit the operating logic of traditional finance. Since the Investment Company Act of 1940, registered mutual funds have operated like a "factory assembly line": regardless of market fluctuations, investors could only subscribe or redeem shares at the end of each trading day, based on the fund’s calculated net asset value (NAV). This is known as the "forward pricing" mechanism. Even investors accustomed to intraday trading in the Nasdaq era have had to accept T+1 or even longer settlement cycles when dealing with mutual funds.
WisdomTree’s SEC exemption fundamentally changes this paradigm. For the first time, tokenized shares of a registered mutual fund are permitted to use a "dealer-client" model for round-the-clock trading and instant settlement within the US regulatory framework. In simple terms, WisdomTree is no longer a "factory" that opens its doors just once a day—it has become a "convenience store" that operates 24 hours a day.
Under this new model, WisdomTree’s affiliated broker-dealer, WisdomTree Securities, has received approval from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) to provide bilateral quotes and liquidity for fund shares using its own balance sheet. Trades are no longer settled directly with the fund, but instead through the broker-dealer’s inventory in a peer-to-peer manner. This structure cleverly sidesteps the legal constraints of daily fund settlement, while fully preserving the primary market subscription and redemption mechanism. It creates a highly valuable, compliant pathway for bringing traditional assets on-chain.
Breaking the "Time Cage": The Power of Instant Settlement and Continuous Dividends
The core advantage of tokenized assets lies in their complete reengineering of the "time" variable.
First, it dramatically improves capital efficiency. Under the traditional T+1 settlement cycle, investors’ funds enter a "vacuum period" after a trade, generating no returns—a phenomenon known as "cash drag." WTGXX eliminates this waiting period by introducing instant settlement, using USDC as the settlement asset for 24/7 trading. Investors can instantly convert idle cash into yield-bearing US Treasury exposure, never missing out on the value of time.
Second, it enables precise income distribution. WisdomTree’s "continuous dividend accrual" mechanism leverages blockchain programmability to the fullest. Traditional dividend payouts rely on a "snapshot" date of holdings, but WTGXX distributes daily earnings based on the actual duration tokens are held in verified wallets—down to the second or even block height. This means that even if you buy and sell within a single day, or transfer tokens between wallets, every second of holding generates corresponding interest. This automated, timestamp-based income allocation would be an administrative nightmare in traditional finance, but on blockchain, it’s just a few lines of code.
Market Expansion: Is RWA Eating the World?
WisdomTree’s move is not an isolated innovation—it rides the wave of explosive growth in real-world asset tokenization. According to estimates from the Bank for International Settlements, by the end of 2025, tokenized money market fund assets had surged from about $77 million a year earlier to nearly $900 million.
Competition among leading institutions in this space is already fierce. As of February 25, data from RWA.xyz shows BlackRock’s USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) leading with approximately $2.17 billion in assets, followed by Franklin Templeton’s OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund (FOBXX) at around $901 million. WisdomTree’s WTGXX, the protagonist of this innovation, has reached about $730 million in assets under management.
The underlying driver of this growth is a subtle shift in the regulatory environment. After the passage of the GENIUS Act in July 2025, the US ban on yield-bearing stablecoins made tokenized money market funds one of the few compliant cash management tools on public blockchains. This gives products like WTGXX not only crypto-native convenience, but also a regulatory "shield."
Liquidity Access: Gate’s Role Amid the RWA Wave
With the emergence of compliant RWA products like WTGXX, the connection between traditional finance and the crypto world is shifting from "trading" to "yield." For crypto users, this means they no longer need to convert funds into complex derivatives to access risk-free US Treasury returns—they can do so directly via stablecoins like USDC.
As a bridge between these two worlds, Gate has always been at the forefront of the RWA sector. Just yesterday (February 24), on-chain monitoring showed a large transfer from Gate’s hot wallet: nearly 300 XAUt (Tether’s gold token), worth about $1.537 million. This move demonstrates not only the strong demand among Gate users for asset-backed tokens, but also Gate’s depth and breadth in liquidity management.
Whether it’s digital gold like XAUt or yield-bearing fiat like WTGXX, Gate is becoming a key marketplace for these "time-sensitive" assets. Here, time is no longer a cage for capital—it’s a friend to yield. For investors seeking to capture RWA opportunities within a compliant framework, choosing a platform that offers deep liquidity and stays ahead of regulatory developments is crucial.
Conclusion
The SEC’s exemption for WisdomTree has cracked the iron wall of traditional finance. Through this fissure, we glimpse a new world—one with no market closures, no delays, and where code is law. In this world, every second of capital generates value, and every transaction leaves an on-chain trace.
Tokenized assets are not meant to destroy traditional finance, but to liberate it. As 24/7 sunlight shines into this ancient industry, the so-called "time cage" will ultimately vanish. At Gate, we stand at the forefront of this historic transformation, inviting you to witness the limitless possibilities in every trading session.
