BlackRock Expands Tokenized Fund BUIDL Beyond Ethereum to Five New Blockchains

As a seasoned researcher with a keen eye for innovation at the crossroads of traditional finance and blockchain technology, I find myself utterly intrigued by BlackRock’s latest move to expand its tokenized product, BUIDL, onto five additional blockchains. Having witnessed the rapid growth and adoption of digital assets over the past decade, I can confidently say that this is a significant step forward in making tokenized real-world assets more accessible and efficient for institutions and retail investors alike.

BlackRock, the global leader in asset management, announced plans to extend its digital fund for tokenized real-world assets to an additional five blockchain networks. This move goes beyond Ethereum, increasing availability of tokens tied to the world’s biggest money market fund.

Starting today, the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) – a product developed in collaboration with tokenization platform Securitize – can be utilized across the Aptos, Arbitrum, Avalanche, Optimism’s mainnet, and Polygon networks, according to an announcement made by the company on Wednesday.

Transforming real-world assets into digital form is currently one of the most talked-about developments where cryptocurrency and conventional finance intersect. Companies dealing with digital assets and prominent financial institutions worldwide are competing to place assets like government securities, private loans, and investment funds onto blockchain platforms. Their goal is to facilitate quicker transactions and improve overall efficiency.

Carlos Domingo, Securitize CEO and co-founder, stated that our goal is to create a digital environment carefully crafted to utilize tokenization benefits. By integrating these new chains, we anticipate an influx of investors seeking to optimize operations through the underlying technology, making possible what was previously challenging.

In March, BlackRock launched its initial tokenized asset: the BUIDL token. This token is backed by short-term U.S. government bonds and maintains a value of $1. Institutions and treasuries in protocols are utilizing it as a means to store their digital cash, earning interest or serving as collateral for trades. Other decentralized finance platforms like Ondo Finance are also constructing their services on this token. According to rwa.xyz data, BUIDL has amassed over $520 million in deposits, making it the leading product in the $2.3 billion market of tokenized U.S. Treasury bonds.

BUIDL’s management fee on Ethereum, Aptos and Arbitrum is 50 basis points. It is cheaper — only 20 basis points — on Aptos, Avalanche and Polygon. Ecosystem development organizations Aptos Foundation, Avalanche (BVI), Inc. and Polygon Labs BD Investments (Cayman) Ltd. each agreed to pay BlackRock a quarterly fee.