BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, is expanding access to its tokenized real-world asset (RWA) fund, the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund, or BUIDL, to five additional blockchains.
The BUIDL fund, previously only available on the Ethereum network, now includes Aptos, Arbitrum, Avalanche, Optimism’s OP Mainnet and Polygon, expanding the accessibility of what has become the largest money market token of its kind.
BlackRock Expands BUILD to Five New Blockchain Networks: Is Institutional Adoption Just Beginning?
According to a Nov. 13 announcement, this will enable further integration with decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystems across multiple chains.
Furthermore, the tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs), including instruments such as government bonds and private credit, has increased as cryptocurrency companies and established financial institutions strive to leverage blockchain for operational efficiency and faster settlements.
BREAKING: 🔥
BlackRock launches "Buidl" on multiple chains including $APT, $ARB, $AVAX, $OP, and $MATIC
The biggest asset manager in the world is going ALL IN on crypto pic.twitter.com/WDI6zr7FS4
— Budhil Vyas (@BudhilVyas) November 13, 2024
The BUIDL fund, tokenized by Securitize, focuses on short-term, low-risk assets, primarily U.S. Treasury bills (T-Bills) and similar interest-bearing securities. In fact, Securitize CEO Carlos Domingo emphasized the fund’s goal of creating a digitally native ecosystem to maximize the benefits of tokenization.
“With these new chains, we’ll start to see more investors looking to leverage the underlying technology to drive efficiency in all the things that have been difficult to do up until now,” Domingo said.
As demand for tokenized real assets (RWAs) such as T-Bills grows, the sector is seeing increasing interest from investors due to the stability and yield of these assets.
BUIDL initially launched in March, backed by short-term U.S. government bonds at a price of 1 USD. The growth reflects substantial demand, as it has accumulated more than 520 million in deposits, according to RWA.xyz. As such, it is leading the 2.3 billion USD tokenized U.S. Treasury market.
The fund serves institutional clients and protocol treasuries, offering a stable yield option and acting as collateral for decentralized finance (DeFi) trading. Other DeFi platforms, such as Ondo Finance, are also building products on top of BUIDL.
BUIDL has emerged as the largest tokenized treasury fund by assets under management (AUM), surpassing the Franklin OnChain US Government Money Fund, which holds around $450 million in AUM.
On-chain accessibility and operational benefits: Interests grow more than before
BUIDL management fees vary depending on the blockchain, with lower fees offered on certain networks. In short, the fee is 50 basis points on Ethereum, Arbitrum, and Optimism.
For Aptos, Avalanche and Polygon, the rate drops to 20 basis points, supported by quarterly payments from their ecosystem development foundations: Aptos Foundation, Avalanche (BVI), Inc. and Polygon Labs BD Investments (Cayman) Ltd.
Expanding BUIDL to additional blockchains enables enhanced integration with DeFi platforms, enabling investors to access on-chain yields, peer-to-peer transfers, and dividend accruals in real-time.
BlackRock highlighted that this multi-chain approach allows BUIDL to support broader blockchain financial products and infrastructure.
According to the US Department of the Treasury, tokenization and distributed ledger technology (DLT) can improve transparency and liquidity in Treasury securities markets by providing real-time information about trading activity.
This is in line with BlackRock’s initiative. After all, these tokenized funds can help streamline operations, reduce settlement delays, and increase transparency for regulators and investors.
BlackRock’s move reflects a broader trend in the financial sector toward tokenized investments. Other financial giants, such as Franklin Templeton, are expanding their tokenized funds to networks like Base, Coinbase ’s layer-2 blockchain .
According to Colin Butler, global head of institutional capital at Polygon, the tokenization market, which encompasses assets ranging from T-Bills to digital artwork, is estimated to represent a 30 trillion USD global opportunity.
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