Uber ran a tokenization pilot with HSBC and Franklin Templeton that let the company keep its money invested in money market products while still using it for payments, including on weekends. The test targets a core corporate treasury limit: cash that earns yield is usually not cash you can spend right away.
What Uber tested
The pilot combined yield from money market products with access to liquidity for payments, two things that are kept separate in the traditional setup.
- Uber's funds stayed invested in money market products
- The company could use the money for payments without waiting for a redemption
- Access worked on weekends, when the traditional banking system does not settle
Who was involved
Participant | Role in the pilot |
|---|---|
Uber | The company testing its cash management |
HSBC | Banking partner |
Franklin Templeton | Asset manager partner |
The amounts involved, the length of the test and the infrastructure used were not disclosed.
How the model works
In a traditional treasury, money parked in money market funds has to be redeemed before it can be used, and redemptions settle only on business days.
In a tokenized model, the fund unit is represented on-chain and can be transferred or used directly, without the intermediate step of redeeming into cash.
Aspect | Traditional treasury | Tokenized model |
|---|---|---|
Yield | Only on money left in the fund | On invested money until the moment of payment |
Cash access | After redemption | Direct, from the tokenized unit |
Weekends | No settlement | Access available |
Why it matters
For a company with daily payments, the difference is between splitting the balance into money that earns yield and money that sits idle for payments, and keeping everything in a single product.
- Money stays invested until the moment of payment
- Payments do not depend on the bank settlement window
- Weekends no longer block access to invested funds
The pilot brings a non-financial corporate user with large payment volumes into tokenized money market funds. If you track real-world asset adoption, the Uber case is a test of operational use, not of trading a token.