BlackRock's BUIDL Ethereum Fund Draws $245 Million In a Week

The Ethereum-based BUIDL fund from investing giant BlackRock has raised $245 million in Ethereum tokens since its launch last week. According to data from Etherscan, ten transactions have entered the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund, beginning with $5 million on March 20 when the BUIDL fund launched.

Over the next seven days, an additional $239.8 million flowed into the ERC-20-based fund, including $92 million in Ondo Short-Term US Government Treasuries from the tokenized real-world asset platform Ondo Finance.

“We’re excited to see BlackRock embracing securities tokenization with the launch of BUIDL, especially its broad cooperation with ecosystem participants,” Ondo Finance said in a blog post on Wednesday. “Not only does this further validate our original concept of a tokenized US Treasury fund, but it also bolsters our thesis that tokenization of traditional securities on public blockchains represents the next major step in the evolution of financial markets.”

While not a stablecoin like USDT or USDC, BlackRock says the value of BUIDL is intended to remain 1 to 1 with the U.S. dollar, where 1 BUIDL equals $1. Cryptocurrency stablecoins aim to provide some stability in the often volatile cryptocurrency market and provide a pathway to exchanges for fiat or other tokens.

BlackRock said the fund invests 100% of its assets in cash, U.S. Treasury bills, and repurchase agreements.

BlackRock filed documents for the British Virgin Island-based BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on March 14. News of the application renewed hope that a spot Ethereum ETF could be on the horizon despite the SEC's pushback on BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust ETF.

Last week, the SEC also delayed a decision on Grayscale’s Ethereum ETF until the end of May.

According to data from the Real-World Assets (RWA) platform, BlackRock’s BUIDL ranks second after Franklin Templeton’s Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund, which has a market capitalization of $360.2 million. The Ethereum-based BlackRock BUIDL fund has a market capitalization of 106.5 million.

Speaking to CNBC in January, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink laid out the case of crypto-based exchange-traded funds after the SEC approved the first Bitcoin ETFs.

“I see value in having an Ethereum ETF,” Fink said at the time. “As I said, these are just stepping stones towards tokenization.”

While there is strong interest in an Ethereum spot ETF, such an investment vehicle is unlikely to draw anywhere near as much interest as those now available for Bitcoin, which attracted $4.5 billion in their first day of availability.

Editor's note: This article was updated on Thursday, March 28 to correct a misspelling of Ondo Finance.

Edited by Ryan Ozawa.