Grant Application - The Tokenization of Money Market Funds (TMMFs)

Centrifuge Governance Proposals
1

cp: 165
title: The Tokenization of Money Market Funds (TMMFs)
authors: lschoenl
contributors:
beneficiary:
wallet: 13zDsuyqze6fh2u7i1gsK3BsW1Ag3cGzvznY4eABmfU6DYQ8
uses-component:
technical-proposal: no
requires-onchain:
impacts/modifies:
status: rfc
date-proposed: [2025-08-21]
date-ended:

TL;DR:

We’re launching a research project on “Tokenization of Money Market Funds (TMMFs) in DeFi,” analyzing how tokenized MMFs enhance efficiency, liquidity, and transparency in financial markets. We compare TMMFs with traditional MMFs, also examining their role in DeFi (DEXs, lending protocols), and explore implications for regulation and market stability. The study aims to inform industry, academia, and policymakers with the first results by the end of 2025/mid-2026. We’re seeking €10,000 in funding to support data collection, research, and dissemination, and any amount helps.

Longer Version:

This proposal seeks funding to support a new research initiative entitled “The Tokenization of Money Market Funds (TMMFs) in Decentralized Finance.” This project investigates the rapidly growing field of tokenized RWAs, with a particular focus on money market funds (MMFs) being integrated into decentralized finance ecosystems.

TMMFs are poised to transform traditional financial infrastructure by combining the security and liquidity of MMFs with the programmability and efficiency of blockchain technology. TMMFs offer transparent, low-cost access to short-term yield-generating instruments and can serve as collateral on decentralized lending protocols or be traded on DEXs. These innovations not only increase efficiency and liquidity but also present new dynamics in risk, market structure, and financial stability.

As a pioneer in the issuance of TMMFs, your organization stands at the forefront of this transformation. Our study provides a comprehensive, data-driven analysis comparing TMMFs and traditional MMFs across key dimensions such as cost, liquidity, settlement speed, and transparency. We also explore how TMMFs challenge the dominance of stablecoins in crypto markets and how their integration into DEXs and lending protocols influences investor behavior and systemic stability.

Expected Contributions and Strategic Value:

  • A clear articulation of how tokenization enhances efficiency, lowers operational costs, and improves market access and liquidity.
  • Insights into regulatory and financial stability implications, offering issuers a framework to anticipate challenges and develop robust compliance and risk management strategies.
  • Practical use cases demonstrating how TMMFs integrate into broader DeFi ecosystems, showcasing institutional readiness and appeal.
  • Empirical findings with high potential for publication in a top-tier finance journal and impact within both policy and investor communities.

Our goal is to provide actionable insights for market participants (investors), regulators, and policymakers, while also contributing to academic discourse. Given the strong interest in digital finance from both public and private institutions, reinforced by the G20 and BIS initiatives on tokenization, this project is both timely and aligned with global financial priorities.

We would be delighted to explore opportunities for collaboration or to share further details if this aligns with your current initiatives.

The project will begin in July 2025. We expect the first initial paper draft to be completed by Dezember 2025.

The total budget for which we are asking is EUR 10,000 (approx. 41.000 CFG), covering IT and data infrastructure (EUR 2,000), PhD research support (EUR 4,000), conference presentations (EUR 2,000), and journal submission fees (EUR 2,000).

About me: I am an Assistant Professor in Finance at the Collegio Carlo Alberto and the University of Turin. I obtained my Ph.D. at the Frankfurt School of Finance. I am is also associated with the Fintech & Digital Finance Chair at Paris Dauphine University. My specialization areas are empirical asset pricing (option-implied information) and DeFi. (https://sites.google.com/view/lorenzo-schoenleber/menu)

Best Lorenzo

1 Like
2

Thanks for sharing this, Lorenzo. The research topic sounds interesting.

While we don’t currently operate a formal grant program, we’re open to exploring synergies. To help us better understand the potential fit, it would be helpful to learn a bit more on a few points:

1. Research Objectives & Outcomes

  • What are the key research questions and hypotheses you aim to explore?

  • What are the expected concrete outputs (e.g. working papers, datasets, public tools, policy briefs)?

  • What is the intended impact, on the RWA ecosystem broadly, and potentially for Centrifuge specifically?

2. Methodology & Timeline

  • Can you outline your research methodology in more detail?

  • Are there specific protocols or datasets you plan to analyze?

  • What are the key milestones through mid-2026?

3. Team & Capabilities

  • Besides yourself, will others (e.g. PhD students, collaborators, institutions) be involved?

  • What makes your team well-positioned to deliver on this research?

4. Budget Justification

  • Could you provide a breakdown of how the €10,000 would be allocated, and how critical this amount is to the project’s success?

  • Are you also seeking support from other DAOs or institutions?

5. Value for CentrifugeDAO

  • How could this research tangibly support or inform the Centrifuge ecosystem whether through visibility, strategic insights, or product/governance alignment?

  • Would you be open to shaping part of the research scope to align with Centrifuge-specific priorities (e.g. integration of MMFs in Centrifuge infrastructure, policy implications for RWA protocols)?

    We’re always eager to support meaningful work that advances the ecosystem and look forward to hearing more.

-Treasury Advisory Group

2 Likes
3

Dear 0xjulcaesar,

Thanks for your interest in my proposal!

1. Research Objectives & Outcomes

Questions:

  • How do Tokenized Money Market Funds (TMMFs) interact with existing stablecoins and traditional MMFs?
  • Do TMMFs attract demand away from stablecoins, from traditional MMFs, or create new investor demand?
  • What are the systemic risks of TMMFs (e.g., liquidity, contagion, collateral reuse)?
  • What is the role of TMMFs as collateral in DeFi, and how might they challenge stablecoins in collateral markets?

Outputs: Working paper and policy brief

Impact:

  • Contribute to the academic and policy debate on tokenization of RWAs.
  • Provide actionable insights for builders and policymakers on risks, adoption paths, and design choices.

2. Methodology & Timeline

  • Approach: On-chain data (Ethereum logs, rwa.xyz, CoinGecko) with fund filings to analyze inflows/outflows, wallet activity, and portfolio composition. Case studies include BUIDL, OUSG, and JTRSY. For the analysis of the MMFs, we use iMoneyNet and Crane Data, which are premier providers of MMF data widely used by financial professionals and researchers.

  • Milestones: Dataset (Q3 2025), first paper/policy brief (Q4 2025), conference dissemination (Q1 2026), final outputs (Q2 2026).

3. Team & Capabilities

  • Team: Lorenzo Schönleber (lead, Collegio Carlo Alberto & University of Turin), with Federico Ravenna (CCA/HEC), Alfred Lehar (UCalgary)

  • Strength: Proven DeFi research track, technical capacity for on-chain analysis, strong academic and policy network.

  1. Budget Justification (€10,000) (approx. 41.000 CFG)
  • €3k: Research Assistance and data collection, €3k: cloud/infra, €2k: conferences, €2k: dissemination.

5. Value for CentrifugeDAO

  • Direct value: JTRSY featured in comparative analysis with leading TMMFs; insights on adoption, collateral use, and risks.

  • Strategic fit: Research can adapt to Centrifuge priorities (integration of MMFs into its infrastructure, regulatory implications for RWAs).

  • Visibility: Independent, data-driven outputs highlighting Centrifuge as a leader in tokenized RWAs.

6. Synergies

  • Data access: Granular metrics on JTRSY subscriptions, redemptions, portfolio holdings of the underlying funds, and wallet distribution would greatly enrich the analysis.

  • Mutual value: The research could provide Centrifuge with visibility, strategic insights, and policy-aligned narratives, while allowing us to produce more precise and impactful outputs for academia and policymakers.

4

Good day there
The Centrifuge Treasury Request should follow the CP-2:

You can find all the information here.
In case you need help or if you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to contact me.
I`m more than happy to help and assist you.
Best.

5

Dear ImdioR,

Thanks for your email. I dont understand. I simply replied in the same style as the previous post. What do I need to change?

Best

6

Hi

The following link explains how to submit the proposal and what template you should use for it.
There are three simple steps:

GOVERNANCE PROCESS

STEP DESCRIPTION DURATION
1 Submit proposal to the Centrifuge Proposals Repository (on Github) to get a pull request # -
2 Create an RFC on the Forum (see template below for title, tags and content) Minimum 7 days
3 Create an on-chain Treasury proposal -

Did you follow these steps? As well, there you can find a template for RFC:

image
image1154×1951 143 KB

In your message, you didn`t include important information like CP number, wallet address, Description of Individual/Group seeking funding, and Alignment to the mission of Centrifuge DAO
, Change or improvement.

As well, you indicated the requested amount in EURO. The Centrifuge DAO Treasury holds, for now, only CFG and a small amount of USDC.

In case you need help or if you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to contact me.

7

Okay. I added my proposal on GitHub and the relevant information here. I hope its all set now.