BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, has made a significant entry into the realm of tokenized investment vehicles with the launch of its inaugural tokenized investment fund, the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL). In just its first week of operation, BUIDL has attracted approximately $160 million in inflows, with recent injections from Ondo Finance, a tokenized real-world asset (RWA) platform.
According to a Bloomberg report, BUIDL has already amassed $160 million in deposits, indicating a strong demand for tokenized investment products. Ondo Finance has also announced plans to allocate a significant portion of its tokenized short-term U.S. Treasury bills ETF, OUSG, into BUIDL. While the exact amount is unclear, Ondo Finance has disclosed that it intends to transfer $95 million onto the BUIDL platform.
BUIDL functions as a tokenized money market fund, primarily investing in U.S. Treasury bills, repurchase agreements, and cash. Utilizing Ethereum blockchain infrastructure provided by Securitize, BUIDL tokens are issued to investors. These tokens are designed to maintain a stable value of $1 per token and distribute dividends in the form of tokens representing U.S. dollar yield to eligible investors.
This successful debut of BUIDL highlights BlackRock’s growing commitment to digital assets, following its recent achievements in the cryptocurrency space. In January, BlackRock secured SEC approval for a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT). With over $15 billion in investments, IBIT is now the second-largest spot bitcoin ETF, trailing only Grayscale’s GBTC, according to data from The Block’s spot bitcoin ETF tracker.
As BlackRock continues to make strides in the digital asset space, its influence in the evolving landscape of tokenized investment products is becoming increasingly apparent. The successful launch of BUIDL solidifies BlackRock’s position as a major player in this market.
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Disclaimer: This is not financial advice. Please do your own research before investing in any digital asset.