BlackRock BUIDL Fund Explained: How the Tokenized Fund Works

BlackRock BUIDL is BlackRock's tokenized money market fund: a private fund that holds cash, US Treasury bills and repurchase agreements, and records each share as a token on public blockchains. It launched on 20 March 2024, targets a stable value of $1 per token, and pays its yield as new tokens each month. As of 17 October 2026 it held about $2.17 billion across 106 holders, according to rwa.xyz.

You cannot buy BUIDL on a normal exchange. It is sold only to qualified institutional investors through Securitize, with a $5 million initial minimum. This guide explains how BUIDL works, who can hold it, how crypto firms use it as collateral and stablecoin reserves, how it compares with Franklin Templeton's BENJI and Ondo's OUSG, and what the risks are.

What is BlackRock BUIDL?

BUIDL stands for the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund. BlackRock announced it on 20 March 2024 as "its first tokenized fund issued on a public blockchain", starting on Ethereum, according to the launch press release.

The launch release sets out the basic design:

• Holdings: the fund "invests 100% of its total assets in cash, U.S. Treasury bills, and repurchase agreements".
• Price: it "seeks to offer a stable value of $1 per token". That is a target, not a guarantee, and the release says so.
• Yield: dividends accrue daily and are paid "directly to investors' wallets as new tokens each month".
• Transfers: tokens can move 24/7/365, but only "to other pre-approved investors".

A monthly reserve report for Ethena's USDtb stablecoin, prepared by its issuer Anchorage Digital Bank, describes BUIDL as "a private and unregistered money market fund domiciled in the British Virgin Islands" that is redeemable at net asset value (NAV) through Securitize on a daily basis (Anchorage attestation, 31 July 2026).

For the wider category, including how tokenized money market funds differ from yield-bearing notes, see our guide to tokenized treasuries.

Who runs BUIDL: BlackRock, Securitize and BNY

BUIDL is a traditional fund with a blockchain share register. Each job sits with a different firm, according to the launch release:

• Investment manager: BlackRock Financial Management, Inc., an SEC-registered investment adviser.
• Custodian and administrator: Bank of New York Mellon, which holds the fund's assets.
• Transfer agent and tokenization platform: Securitize, which manages the tokenized shares and reports subscriptions, redemptions and distributions.
• Placement agent: Securitize Markets, a registered broker-dealer, which sells the fund to eligible investors.
• Auditor: PricewaterhouseCoopers was appointed for the period ending 31 December 2024.

BlackRock also made a strategic investment in Securitize when the fund launched. The release discloses that this, along with the placement fees BlackRock pays Securitize Markets, creates a conflict of interest.

The initial ecosystem participants named at launch were Anchorage Digital Bank, BitGo, Coinbase and Fireblocks. Investors can choose how to hold their tokens, including with these custodians.

Who can buy BUIDL?

Very few people. The fund issues shares under Rule 506(c) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 3(c)(7) of the Investment Company Act, with a $5 million initial investment minimum (launch release). Section 3(c)(7) funds can only be sold to "qualified purchasers", and rwa.xyz lists BUIDL's eligible investors as "U.S. Qualified Purchaser" (rwa.xyz).

In practice, BUIDL's holders are institutions: crypto firms, stablecoin issuers, other tokenized funds and trading firms. The holder count tells the story. Just 106 wallets held BUIDL on 17 October 2026, compared with 18,881 for Ondo's USDY, per rwa.xyz.

Onboarding works like any private fund. You pass Securitize's investor checks, your wallet is added to an allow-list, and the token contract blocks transfers to wallets that are not on it. If you want to understand why tokenized securities carry these checks, our guide to KYC in DeFi covers the basics.

Retail investors who want Treasury exposure on-chain usually look at products built on top of BUIDL, or at yield-bearing stablecoins. Our guide to yield-generating stablecoins compares them.

Chains, share classes and how the token works

BUIDL started on Ethereum and has since expanded to more networks. When it came to BNB Chain in November 2025, Securitize described it as "a new share class on the BNB Chain network", and listed BUIDL's existing networks as including Arbitrum, Aptos, Avalanche, Ethereum, Optimism and Polygon (Securitize and Binance release, 14 November 2025).

As of 17 October 2026, rwa.xyz tracks BUIDL on nine networks, including Ethereum, Avalanche, Aptos, BNB Chain, Arbitrum, Optimism, Polygon and Tempo (rwa.xyz). Securitize describes a new chain launch as a new share class of the same fund, and rwa.xyz tracks the supply on each network separately.

The key numbers on 17 October 2026, per rwa.xyz:

• Total value: about $2.17 billion, down 8.99% from 30 days earlier.
• NAV: $1.00 per token.
• 7-day APY: 3.69%. This tracks short-term US interest rates and will move with them.
• Management fee: 0.20% to 0.50% a year, depending on the share class.

Because the price is held at $1.00 and yield arrives as extra tokens, BUIDL behaves more like a rebasing balance than a token whose price rises. Products such as Ondo's USDY do the opposite: the price per token rises as yield accrues.

How BUIDL is used as collateral and stablecoin reserves

BUIDL's real role in crypto is as plumbing. A token that earns the T-bill rate, holds about $1, and moves on-chain is useful to firms that would otherwise hold idle cash or stablecoins.

Instant exit to USDC

On 11 April 2024, Circle announced a smart contract that lets BUIDL holders transfer their shares to Circle in exchange for USDC, giving them a near-instant, 24/7 off-ramp (Circle announcement).

Stablecoin reserves: Ethena's USDtb

Ethena's USDtb stablecoin went live on 16 December 2024, backed by BUIDL (The Block). USDtb is now issued by Anchorage Digital Bank. Its 31 July 2026 attestation shows $401.7 million of reserves against 400.96 million redeemable tokens, of which $397.7 million was BUIDL and about $4.0 million was cash (Anchorage attestation). In other words, roughly 99% of USDtb's reserves were BUIDL on that date. For how USDtb fits into Ethena's design, see what is USDe.

Exchange collateral

• Crypto.com and Deribit began accepting BUIDL as trading collateral, announced on 18 June 2025 (Cointelegraph).
• Binance began accepting BUIDL as off-exchange collateral on 14 November 2025, through its banking triparty partners and its custody partner Ceffu (Securitize and Binance release).

Off-exchange collateral means the tokens stay with a third-party custodian while the exchange credits the trader's margin. The trader keeps earning the fund's yield on assets posted as margin. Our perpetual futures guide explains how margin works on those venues.

Funds of funds

Other tokenized funds hold BUIDL too. Ondo's OUSG, for example, "primarily holds BlackRock's BUIDL fund", according to its rwa.xyz listing. Our sibling guide, what is Ondo Finance, covers that product.

BUIDL vs BENJI, OUSG and USYC

BUIDL is no longer the biggest tokenized Treasury product. As of 17 October 2026, tokenized US Treasury products were worth about $14.69 billion in total, and Circle's USYC and Ondo's USDY were each slightly larger than BUIDL, per rwa.xyz.

Figures and eligibility labels are from the rwa.xyz asset pages for USYC, USDY, BUIDL, BENJI and OUSG.

The main differences:

• Franklin Templeton's BENJI is the token for the Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund. Launched in 2021, rwa.xyz describes it as the first US-registered mutual fund to record share ownership fully on-chain, with a 0.20% management fee. Franklin's Benji platform held about $2.50 billion across its products on 17 October 2026 (rwa.xyz).
• Ondo's OUSG is a fund of funds that holds BUIDL and other money market funds, with a $5,000 minimum for instant mints and redemptions, per Ondo's docs.
• Circle's USYC accumulates yield in its price rather than paying new tokens.

For a broader list of issuers and platforms, see the best RWA tokenization platforms.

Risks and limits of BUIDL

• The $1 is a target. The launch release states that BUIDL "may not be able to maintain a stable value of $1.00 per token at all times".
• Private and unregistered. The fund is not registered with the SEC, and its shares are not listed on any exchange. Investors rely on the offering documents, not on the protections of a registered mutual fund.
• Permissioned transfers. Tokens can only go to allow-listed wallets. If you are removed from the list, or a counterparty is not on it, the token cannot move.
• Smart contract and chain risk. Each share class depends on a token contract and a blockchain. A bug, a bridge problem or a chain outage can delay transfers even though the underlying T-bills are safe.
• Concentration in crypto plumbing. When a stablecoin like USDtb holds almost all of its reserves in one fund, problems at that fund pass straight through to the stablecoin. Our guide to stablecoin depegs shows how that can play out.
• Rate risk to yield. The yield follows short-term US rates. When the Federal Reserve cuts, BUIDL's yield falls with it.

Where JewelSwap fits

JewelSwap does not offer BUIDL or any tokenized Treasury product. It runs on MultiversX, Sui and Radix, with liquid staking (JWLSUI, JWLEGLD and JWLXRD) and stablecoin farms on Sui through Scallop and Cetus. If you are comparing on-chain yield sources, treat Treasury tokens and DeFi farms as different risks: one is a regulated fund with permissioned access, the other is smart contract and market risk you can access from any wallet. For the bigger picture, read our guide to real-world assets in DeFi.

Frequently asked questions

What is BlackRock BUIDL?

BUIDL is the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund, a private money market fund launched on 20 March 2024. It holds cash, US Treasury bills and repo, issues its shares as tokens on public blockchains through Securitize, targets $1 per token and pays yield as new tokens each month.

Can retail investors buy BUIDL?

No. BUIDL is sold only to qualified purchasers through Securitize Markets, with a $5 million initial minimum, and tokens can only be sent to pre-approved wallets.

How big is the BUIDL fund?

As of 17 October 2026, BUIDL held about $2.17 billion across 106 holders, according to rwa.xyz. That made it the third-largest tokenized Treasury product, behind Circle's USYC and Ondo's USDY.

Which blockchains is BUIDL on?

BUIDL launched on Ethereum and, per rwa.xyz, is now tracked on nine networks, including Avalanche, Aptos, BNB Chain, Arbitrum, Optimism, Polygon and Tempo. Securitize describes new chain launches as new share classes of the same fund.

Is BUIDL a stablecoin?

No. It is a tokenized money market fund that aims to hold $1 per token but is not guaranteed to. Some stablecoins, such as USDtb, use BUIDL as their main reserve asset.

What is the difference between BUIDL and OUSG?

BUIDL is BlackRock's own fund. OUSG is an Ondo fund that primarily holds BUIDL along with other money market funds, so it adds a second layer of fund structure, fees and controls on top.

Keep reading

• Tokenized treasuries explained
• What is Ondo Finance?
• Real-world assets (RWA) in DeFi
• Best RWA tokenization platforms in 2026
• What is USDe? Ethena's synthetic dollar

This article is educational and isn't financial or legal advice. Fund values, yields and holder counts are as of 17 October 2026 from rwa.xyz, and change daily. Product details come from the linked press releases, attestations and issuer pages. BUIDL is only available to eligible investors through its offering documents.