BlackRock tokenized fund overtakes Franklin Templeton
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
The BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) surpassed Franklin Templeton's OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund (FOBXX) in market cap terms just yesterday, according to research platform rwa.xyz.
- BlackRock turned heads when it partnered with a digital asset firm to launch a tokenized money market fund on the Ethereum blockchain in March. Just weeks later, that fund has become the largest.
The big picture: Overall the tokenized treasury market, at $1.3 billion, remains small compared to the $160 billion enjoyed by stablecoins.
Flashback: BlackRock partnered with Securitize Markets to put real world assets onchain, starting out with a treasury fund for qualified purchasers. Within days, it had $100 million in assets.
- Franklin Templeton, however, was the first to put a registered mutual fund on-chain, according to the firm.
Of note: Not many addresses hold the BUIDL tokens, just 13, according to rwa.xyz.
- Franklin Templeton's fund has the second most associated wallet addresses overall, at 404, per the research firm, just behind Ondo U.S. Dollar Yield fund's (USDY), 836.
Behind the scenes: BlackRock made a minority investment in Securitize as part of their partnership, and BlackRock's global head of strategic partnerships Joseph Chalom joined Securitize's board, per the Wall Street Journal in March.
- Securitize said the firm led its $47 million fundraising round just today, referencing that investment made at BUIDL's launch.
The bottom line: Tokenizing real world assets is a work in progress, but the entry of big firms like BlackRock appears to be at least accelerating the pace of the category's growth — BUIDL is 30% of the overall category.
