Asset management giant BlackRock is making its first formal move into decentralized finance by bringing its tokenized US Treasury fund to Uniswap, marking a milestone moment for institutional adoption of DeFi. The fund, BUIDL, will be listed on Uniswap, allowing institutional investors to buy and sell the tokenized security. As part of the arrangement, BlackRock is also purchasing an undisclosed amount of Uniswap’s native governance token, UNI, the announcement said. The collaboration is being facilitated by tokenization company Securitize, which partnered with the world’s biggest asset manager on the launch of BUIDL.
According to Fortune, trading will initially be limited to a select group of eligible institutional investors and market makers before expanding more broadly. “For the first time, institutions and whitelisted investors can access technology from a leader in the decentralized finance space to trade tokenized real-world assets like BUIDL with self-custody,” said Securitize CEO Carlos Dominigo. BUIDL is the biggest tokenized money market fund, with more than $2.18 billion in total assets, according to data compiled by RWA.xyz. The fund is issued across multiple blockchains, including Ethereum, Solana, BNB Chain, Aptos and Avalanche.
In December, BUIDL reached a key milestone, surpassing $100 million in cumulative distributions from its Treasury holdings. Wall Street has expanded tokenized money market offerings amid growing stablecoin activity. Goldman Sachs and BNY Mellon have partnered to broaden institutional access to tokenized money market products. JPMorgan strategists have highlighted the asset class as a potential counterweight to the rapid growth of stablecoins. While both rely on blockchain infrastructure, the GENIUS Act is widely expected to accelerate stablecoin adoption, potentially drawing liquidity away from traditional money market funds.
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