Larry Fink believes in the potential of tokenized assets in institutional business. «His» company Blackrock, the world's largest asset manager, has launched a new money market fund based on the Ethereum blockchain.
Among major asset managers, Blackrock is the one that is the most courageous in the crypto space. Last year, CEO Larry Fink said at a conference in New York that he believes «the tokenization of securities will define the next generation of markets».
«The distributed ledgers [on blockchain technology] will enable real-time settlement of transactions and change the entire ecosystem,» Fink added.
Blackrock's Second Crypto Fund
In early January 2024, Blackrock launched the iShares Bitcoin Trust, an investment fund for Bitcoin, and aimed at investors who do not want to or cannot buy the cryptocurrency directly themselves. The fund already has a net worth of $17.9 billion. With its second product, Blackrock diving much deeper into the mechanics of the crypto world.
A week ago, the asset manager launched its Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund on the Ethereum blockchain under the name «Buidl». In the first few days, the inflows amounted to $240 million, according to the financial website «Bloomberg» (article subject to payment).
1 Token = 1 Dollar
The product is a money market fund that works on a blockchain basis: shares are bought and sold via authorized wallets of Securitize Markets. Securitize Markets is a blockchain-based trading system that holds a broker-dealer license from the U.S. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (Finra). «Buidl» is aiming for a stable value of $1 per token. The dividends are distributed directly to the investors' wallets daily, as well as tokens.
The new product allows investors in the crypto space to invest in the money market. It bridges the growing ecosystem of crypto investors and the traditional money market.
Around $360 million at Franklin Templeton
A year ago, Franklin Templeton launched the Fonchain U.S. Government Money Fund (FOBXX), a crypto-based money market fund. So far, it has recorded deposits of around $360 million.
