Coin columns · Ethereum City (Capital)
BUIDL: BlackRock’s Tokenized Money Market Fund on Ethereum
An institutional fund token holding T-bills and cash at $1
BUIDL, the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund, is a tokenized fund launched on Ethereum in March 2024 by BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager. Its fund shares exist as tokens that move on blockchains, making it a flagship case of tokenization in traditional finance.
1. Who issues it and who can buy
BlackRock manages the fund, while Securitize, a tokenization firm, issues the tokens and keeps the investor register as transfer agent. BNY holds the fund’s assets, and the fund itself is a company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands. BlackRock also invested in Securitize around the launch.
It is not open to everyone. Only qualified institutional and professional investors can hold it, in wallets on an approved list after identity checks, and the minimum investment at launch was $5 million. On the Crypto Nation map, BUIDL stands in Ethereum City (the capital), because it was first issued on Ethereum.
2. How it holds $1
BUIDL works like a money market fund, investing only in cash, short-term US Treasury bills and repurchase agreements, which are short loans backed by bonds. Each token is kept at $1, and income accrues daily and is paid monthly as new tokens, so returns show up as a growing token balance rather than a rising price.
When investors put in dollars, new tokens are minted; when they redeem, tokens are destroyed and dollars returned. In April 2024 Circle launched a smart contract letting holders swap BUIDL for the USDC stablecoin, a quick exit that does not depend on bank hours.
3. Uses and expansion
BUIDL acts as interest-bearing cash on chain and as a reserve asset for other projects. Ethena’s USDtb stablecoin, for example, holds much of its reserves in BUIDL, and some crypto exchanges accept it as collateral for derivatives trading, letting institutions earn yield on their margin. Other tokenized Treasury products hold it as well.
In November 2024 BUIDL expanded to Aptos, Arbitrum, Avalanche, Optimism and Polygon, it arrived on Solana in March 2025, and it later reached BNB Chain and others. Shares are spread across chains, but Securitize keeps a single official register of who owns what.
4. Things to know
BUIDL is a security, a share in a fund, not a stablecoin, and it has no deposit insurance. Its yield follows US short-term interest rates, so payouts shrink when rates fall. Figures such as fund size and yield change often and should be checked in official sources.
Only approved wallets can hold it, and the issuer and its agents can freeze or move tokens under its rules, which makes it very different from freely usable cryptocurrencies. It also depends on central parties such as BlackRock, Securitize and the custodian bank, and on each chain’s smart contracts and bridges working properly.
Written from information public up to October 2026. It does not recommend or rate any coin and is not investment advice. If something is wrong, please tell us through the contact page.