Crypto: Blackrock Enters Defi, Taps Uniswap For Institutional Token Trading

BlackRock is bringing its $2.1 billion tokenized Treasury fund to Uniswap, expanding institutional access to DeFi and deepening Wall Street’s push into onchain finance.

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.

According to a Wednesday announcement, BlackRock’s USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) will be listed on the Uniswap decentralized exchange, 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.

Related: Avalanche tokenization hits Q4 high as BlackRock’s BUIDL expands onchain

Source: CoinTelegraph