BlackRock: Tokenized Funds Are Penetrating Wall Street's Traditional Infrastructure
nashnova research
BlackRock's tokenized money-market fund BUIDL has reached $2.3 billion in assets and is moving beyond crypto into traditional finance — aiming for banks to accept tokenized shares as collateral, though regulation and infrastructure compatibility remain the biggest bottlenecks.
What is BlackRock trying to change with tokenization?
BlackRock's core thesis: tokenization changes not what a fund holds, but the "rails" on which ownership moves.
This means → once fund shares exist as tokens, approved investors can transfer them directly — no need to redeem to cash first, then reallocate.
In plain terms = traditional fund shares work like paper checks — you cash out before you can pass them on. Tokenized shares work like a mobile transfer — instant, around the clock.
What has the BUIDL fund achieved so far?
BUIDL is BlackRock's first tokenized money-market fund. Since its 2024 launch it has grown to roughly $2.3 billion, making it one of the largest in its category.
BlackRock has rolled out tokenized cash products in the U.S. and Europe, and in September won approval to launch a Hong Kong-dollar digital liquidity fund that accepts both traditional and digital cash.
BUIDL is already used as collateral in digital-asset markets, but its users are mainly crypto-native — on-chain investors holding stablecoins and looking for yield.
What stands between crypto adoption and traditional finance?
Dan Maley, BlackRock's Asia-Pacific head of cash management, said extending the collateral use case to traditional finance "is the real unlock."
This means → three conditions must be met: banks willing to accept tokenized instruments as collateral, existing market infrastructure that can accommodate them, and sufficient regulatory certainty.
This reflects a gap: tokenized assets already move efficiently on-chain, but their role in traditional collateral and settlement systems remains very limited.
What specific regulatory and industry hurdles exist?
The IMF has flagged platform fragmentation, legal uncertainty, and difficulty interfacing with existing financial infrastructure.
ISDA CEO Scott O'Malia laid out a more granular list: custody and segregation frameworks, capital and margin treatment, cross-border recognition, and legal certainty — all requiring industry standards and regulatory clarity.
In plain terms = the technology can run the tokens, but banks' risk systems and national legal frameworks are not yet ready to catch them.
What should we watch next?
Nikhil Sharma, head of BlackRock's digital-assets team, said adoption of the new products "accelerates from here," though investors are still working out how to fit tokenized products into existing workflows.
BlackRock's core challenge: persuading traditional institutions to embed tokenized products into their current systems rather than build a separate digital-asset operating model.
This means → whether tokenized funds truly enter traditional finance's collateral system hinges on the pace of two things — regulatory clarity and institutional infrastructure upgrades.
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