- BlackRock's tokenised fund is the industry's largest.
- The tokenised treasury market is now worth more than $4 billion.
- Firms, such as Circle, are already scooping up tokenisation ventures.
A year after its launch, investors have poured more than $1 billion into BlackRock’s tokenised treasury fund, BUIDL.
Issued by the $12 trillion asset manager and crypto firm Securitize, BUIDL offers crypto investors exposure to a basket of US Treasury bills, cash, and repurchase agreements on the Ethereum, Aptos, Arbitrum, Optimism, and Polygon blockchains.
The fund crossed the ten-figure threshold on Thursday after a $200 million allocation by Ethena Labs, the creators of a dollar-pegged stablecoin called USDtb.
USDtb, which is backed primarily by BUIDL, is worth $542 million, according to CoinGecko.
“Ethena’s decision to scale USDtb’s investment in BUIDL reflects our deep conviction in the value of tokenised assets and the significant role they will continue to play in modern financial infrastructure,” Guy Young, the CEO and founder of Ethena, told DL News.
He said that BUIDL hitting the $1 billion benchmark indicates keen institutional interest in onchain products like BlackRock’s.
“BUIDL showcases the viability of real-world assets on-chain, offering institutional investors enhanced liquidity, flexibility, and yield opportunities,” Joseph Chalom, head of strategic ecosystem partnerships at BlackRock, shared with DL News.
Tokenised treasuries hit new high
The influx of new investment into BlackRock’s fund has also sent the broader tokenised treasury sector into record territory.
Tokenised offerings from Franklin Templeton, Ondo Finance, and Superstate have pushed the market above $4.4 billion, according to data from RWA.xyz.
Since March 2024, the sector has quintupled and has been led primarily by the launch of BUIDL.
“Tokenised securities are not just a concept, but a tangible innovation,” Carlos Domingo, co-founder and CEO of Securitize, told DL News.
The buzzy sector has already led to some serious deal-making, too.
Last month, stablecoin giant Circle acquired Hashnote, which issues the second-largest tokenised fund.
Robert Leshner, the CEO and co-founder of Superstate, told DL News that the acquisition was “the firing gun” for a wave of traditional finance players to join the tokenised treasury sector.
‘Disruptive trend’
Wall Street stalwarts have long been banging the tokenisation drum.
Jenny Johnson, the CEO of Franklin Templeton, oversaw the firm’s launch of its tokenised fund in 2021 and called tokenisation the “disruptive trend” to finance in 2024.
Larry Fink, the CEO of BlackRock, said in January he hopes the Securities and Exchange Commission will “rapidly approve the tokenisation of bonds and stocks.”
Update: Added comments from BlackRock and Securitize on March 14, 2025.
Liam Kelly is a Berlin-based reporter for DL News. Got a tip? Email him at liam@dlnews.com.