WisdomTree Tokenized Money Markets, SEC Exemptive Relief, and Tradfi Coming to DeFi

A first for US settlement

William Peck describes the exemptive relief for WTGXX as "a big unlock for the space broadly" and says it is the first time this has happened within the US regulatory perimeter. He says WisdomTree sees tokenization as an extension of its ETF background: knowing wrappers and product structuring, and taking that expertise on chain.

Peck has been at WisdomTree for 11 years. He has run the digital assets group since spring 2021.

Stablecoins as rails

WTGXX takes deposits in USDC and PYUSD and can be used as collateral in DeFi. WisdomTree also launched its own stablecoin, USDW, which Peck says serves as the cash and transaction rails inside the firm's ecosystem. For DeFi builders, regulated yield can plug into lending protocols through an integration with CAP Protocol.

Why yield matters

Peck says yield is the main reason people hold a tokenized money market fund instead of a stablecoin. He notes that, given current conversations around the CLARITY Act, rewards programs may not be allowed, and he adds that they do not scale particularly well. He says the pitch is not to replace a money market fund held in a brokerage account. It is to give stablecoin users with a wallet new things to do, use cases he says traditional financial services cannot support.

The 2026 outlook

For 2026, William Peck names liquidity of fund shares and better tokenization of existing assets as the next leg of growth. He also expects more people to become eligible for permissioned assets, possibly through forms of digital identity.