Plume Launches nBND Vault Backed by Fidelity FBND Bond ETF

Plume has launched nBND, a tokenized vault whose primary reserve asset is Fidelity Total Bond ETF (FBND), giving institutional allocators onchain exposure to an actively managed bond strategy. The company announced the product on Oct. 5, 2026, according to Blockonomi.

Blockonomi reported that FBND invests across investment-grade, high-yield and emerging market debt, and that Plume chief executive and co-founder Chris Yin framed short-duration Treasuries as an initial step for onchain fixed income, saying institutional allocators now want duration and active management.

Key facts

• nBND is a tokenized vault from Plume using shares of Fidelity Total Bond ETF as its main reserve asset, announced Oct. 5, 2026.
• Fidelity materials put FBND’s inception at Oct. 6, 2014 and its expense ratio at 0.36%, with a yield of around 4.88%, per Cryptobriefing and Crypto.news.
• Cryptobriefing reported the vault runs on Nest, Plume’s protocol for packaging real-world assets into tokens, and issues a receipt token that trades on Plume’s own chain.
• Plume said tokenized U.S. Treasuries grew from $12 billion in April 2026 to $15 billion in June, against a global fixed-income market it puts above $100 trillion.
• Fidelity’s Cynthia Lo Bessette said tokenized assets and onchain applications are becoming more integrated with mainstream market infrastructure.

What Plume built, and how the reports describe it

Blockonomi described nBND as a tokenized vault that gives allocators exposure to a bond strategy managed by a major financial institution, and said the launch moves tokenized fixed income beyond short-duration Treasuries and money market equivalents. The outlet reported that the structure connects traditional portfolio management with blockchain infrastructure, adding that Plume describes itself as an Open Finance platform for institutional assets with an EVM-compatible chain.

Cryptobriefing added detail on the mechanics: the product is formally the Nest Fidelity Total Bond ETF Vault, also referenced as nFBND, and it accepts stablecoin deposits. The receipt token works like a claim ticket, proving a holder’s claim on the vault’s FBND shares rather than making them direct shareholders of the ETF.

The two accounts also differ on scale. Crypto.news said early reports described a tokenized $28 billion Fidelity ETF and drew a distinction: Fidelity’s official data showed FBND with $26.6 billion in assets as of June 30, 2026, while more recent third-party data placed it near $28.2 billion. That figure covers the traditional ETF, not capital deposited into Plume’s vault, and Crypto.news noted Plume did not disclose the amount of FBND shares placed into nBND at launch or an initial total value locked figure.

Why it matters

Tokenized bond products have mostly centred on Treasury bills and money-market instruments, where short maturities and simple structures made blockchain distribution easier. nBND instead introduces duration and active portfolio management, which changes the risk profile an allocator takes on: interest rate moves still affect FBND’s value regardless of which chain the token lives on, and the receipt token adds smart contract and platform risk on top of ordinary bond market risk, as Cryptobriefing noted.

The launch follows earlier Plume distribution efforts. Cryptobriefing reported the FBND product grew out of a June 2026 partnership with ether.fi on the Etherfi Liquid RWA vault, which launched with $25 million and is projected to reach $100 million, holding allocations to BlackRock’s iShares AAA CLO ETF alongside FBND. Crypto.news reported Plume secured SEC transfer-agent registration in October 2025 and a Bermuda Monetary Authority digital asset business license in May, and that it joined a DTCC digital-assets working group in August.

What to watch

Plume described nBND as the beginning of its work with Fidelity and said other assets could follow, but the Oct. 5 announcement did not identify the next Fidelity fund, set a launch timetable or disclose first-day capital. Fidelity’s Lo Bessette pointed to potential collateral utility and access to capital; the announcement gave no adoption targets for nBND.

Disclaimer: This article is for information only and is not investment, financial or trading advice. Cryptocurrency prices are highly volatile. Always do your own research.

Sources: Blockonomi, Cryptobriefing, Crypto.news