BlackRock’s USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) has expanded its reach to multiple blockchain networks, including Aptos, Arbitrum, Avalanche, Optimism and Polygon, according to a November 13 report statement.
This expansion is part of BlackRock’s strategy to strengthen its tokenization efforts and transform BUIDL into a multi-chain asset. It enables users and applications within these blockchain ecosystems to access BUIDL more efficiently.
The fund, which invests primarily in U.S. Treasury bonds, cash and other liquid assets, will offer new users to these blockchain networks features such as on-chain returns, flexible custody, real-time peer-to-peer transfers and on-chain accumulation and payment of dividend.
Carlos Domingo, CEO of Securitize, emphasized that the expansion aligns with the company’s vision to build a tokenization-based ecosystem. He pointed out that these new blockchains would expand BUIDL’s potential, especially as the tokenization of real-world assets continues to gain traction.
He stated:
“With these new chains, we will see more and more investors looking to leverage the underlying technology to drive efficiencies in all the things that have been difficult to do until now.”
BNY Mellon, the fund’s manager, supports this expansion and will continue to act as manager of these additional blockchain networks.
The growth of BUIDL
According to the press statement, BUIDL became the largest tokenized fund by assets under management (AUM) less than 40 days after launching on the Ethereum blockchain. According to data from DeFillama, BUIDL’s market cap at the time of writing was $518 million.
The expansion to other blockchain networks opens up new investment opportunities for decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), digital asset companies and other market participants.
Meanwhile, the expansion also brings new management fees for various networks. Fund users in Aptos, Avalanche, and Polygon PoS will be charged a 20 basis point fee, while Arbitrum, Ethereum, and Optimism users will be charged a 50 basis point fee.
In addition, BlackRock receives quarterly fees from Aptos, Avalanche and Polygon, based on the average value of the relevant share class each quarter.