BlackRock Expands Tokenized Treasury Initiative

BlackRock has filed to tokenize shares of its $150 billion Treasury Trust money market fund, marking a major step in merging blockchain with traditional finance. The new digital share class, distributed by BNY Mellon and aimed at institutional investors with a $3 million minimum investment, mirrors share ownership records on blockchain without holding crypto. This initiative follows the success of BlackRock's BUIDL fund, which dominates the tokenized U.S. Treasury market with a $2.5 billion market cap, accounting for 41% of the market. The announcement has sparked increased activity and confidence in the real-world asset tokenization sector, driving up token values and transaction volumes. Despite optimism about decentralized finance's transformative potential, concerns persist about the centralization of assets on permissioned blockchains and regulatory risks. Rapid growth and consolidation continue to characterize the evolving tokenized asset market, with BlackRock and a few other major players leading innovation.