BlackRock's tokenized money market fund, BUIDL, has expanded to the Solana blockchain

BlackRock's tokenized money market fund, BUIDL, has expanded to the Solana blockchain as its assets under management (AUM) surpass $1.7 billion

BlackRock's tokenized money market fund, BUIDL, has expanded to the Solana blockchain as its assets under management (AUM) surpass $1.7 billion.

Launched in March 2024 in partnership with Securitize, the fund has grown rapidly, securing a dominant position in the tokenized U.S. Treasury market. BUIDL first crossed the $1 billion mark on March 13.

DeFiLlama data shows that the fund gained $700 million in new investments over 11 days. Investors use money market funds like BUIDL to earn returns on idle cash through short-term, yield-bearing instruments such as U.S. Treasurys. Traditional money markets operate within standard financial hours and have slow settlement times, while tokenized products allow for 24/7 trading.

BUIDL is pegged to the U.S. dollar and pays daily accrued dividends to investors each month through its Securitize partnership. As of August 2024, the fund had distributed $7 million in dividends.

The expansion into Solana comes months after BUIDL's initial move toward a multichain model. On Nov. 13, it expanded to Aptos, Arbitrum, Avalanche, Optimism and Polygon, a move aimed at attracting more investors to the fund.

BlackRock launched BUIDL with the goal of making off-chain assets more accessible. Securitize COO Michael Sonnenshein said the fund is focused on addressing inefficiencies in traditional money markets.

"We are focused on bringing the best of Web3 and DeFi to the broader financial markets," Sonnenshein said. "This partnership with BlackRock is a significant milestone in that journey."

Franklin Templeton's OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund (FOBXX), launched in April 2021, has accumulated over $671 million in AUM and is available on eight blockchain platforms, including Stellar, Polygon and Avalanche.

With tokenized real-world assets exceeding $5 billion in total market capitalization, firms are competing for a share of the growing sector. BUIDL's continued expansion and rising AUM underscores the strong investor interest in blockchain-based financial products.