BlackRock BUIDL: What the Tokenized Treasury Fund Is and How It Works

BUIDL is BlackRock's first tokenized fund. Instead of recording fund shares only in a transfer agent's database, the fund represents each share as a token in an investor's blockchain wallet. Securitize acts as transfer agent and keeps the official shareholder register in step with the tokens ¹.

The token is a security, and that shapes everything about it. Shares are sold under private-placement exemptions (Rule 506(c) of Regulation D and Section 3(c)(7) of the Investment Company Act), which limit buyers to qualified investors ¹. Secondary sources describe the fund as a company organized in the British Virgin Islands ³. BlackRock's March 2024 announcement does not state the domicile.

Two CoinPulse rating entries track the same token, once in the DeFi protocols category and once in stablecoins as "BlackRock USD". This profile covers both.

BUIDL invests all of its assets in cash, US Treasury bills and repurchase agreements, the instruments typical of a government money-market fund ¹. BNY holds the assets as custodian ¹.

The fund seeks to keep each token worth $1.00. Interest earned on the portfolio accrues daily and is paid once a month by sending new BUIDL tokens to each holder's wallet, so a holder's token count rises rather than the token price ¹. The rate follows short-term US interest rates and is not fixed. BlackRock's own disclosures say the fund may not always hold the $1.00 value ¹.

Direct investment is open only to qualified investors who pass onboarding with Securitize, including KYC and anti-money-laundering checks ¹³. The initial minimum is $5 million ¹⁴. Secondary reporting describes eligibility as "qualified purchasers" under the Investment Company Act, a higher bar than accredited-investor status ³.

Once onboarded, an investor's wallet is added to an allowlist. Tokens can be transferred around the clock, but only to other pre-approved wallets ¹. A transfer to an unapproved address will fail. Ordinary retail users cannot buy BUIDL directly, and tokens they see quoted on data sites are not something they can acquire through a crypto exchange's spot market.

Redemption runs through Securitize: the holder requests it, the tokens are burned at the fund's net asset value, and dollars are wired to the holder's bank account, according to secondary reporting ³. Third-party arrangements that swap BUIDL into stablecoins have existed, but they are not part of BlackRock's own redemption process ³.

BUIDL charges an annual management fee that differs by blockchain share class. When BUIDL expanded in November 2024, the fee was set at 0.50% for the Ethereum, Arbitrum and Optimism share classes and 0.20% for Aptos, Avalanche and Polygon ². For the Aptos, Avalanche and Polygon classes, those networks' foundations or affiliates agreed to pay BlackRock a quarterly fee based on the value of their share class ². RWA.xyz lists the overall range as 0.20% to 0.50% ⁴. Fees for the Solana, BNB Chain and Tempo classes were not confirmed in the sources reviewed.

On top of the fund fee, holders pay network gas for transfers on whichever chain they use.

BUIDL started on Ethereum in March 2024 ¹. In November 2024 it added share classes on Aptos, Arbitrum, Avalanche, Optimism and Polygon ². Solana followed in March 2025 and BNB Chain in November 2025 ³⁵. As of 23 October 2026, RWA.xyz also shows supply on Tempo ⁴.

Each chain carries a separate share class of the same fund, not a bridged copy of the Ethereum token ². On 23 October 2026 the largest share by supply was on Solana, followed by Avalanche and Ethereum ⁴.

Because BUIDL is a yield-bearing dollar token on public chains, crypto firms use it as a reserve or collateral asset:

• Tokenized fund building block. Ondo Finance's OUSG holds most of its assets in BUIDL (Ondo Finance) ⁶.
• Trading collateral. Deribit and Crypto.com began accepting BUIDL as collateral in July 2025, and Binance added it as off-exchange collateral in November 2025, letting institutions keep earning the fund's yield while posting it as margin ⁵.

These uses involve eligible institutions. They do not open BUIDL to retail buyers.

• Not a guaranteed $1. The fund aims for $1.00 per token but says it may not maintain it ¹. It is not a bank deposit and is not FDIC-insured.
• Interest-rate exposure. Payouts fall when short-term US rates fall.
• Permissioned token. Transfers work only between allowlisted wallets, and the transfer agent controls the register ¹. Sending to an unapproved address fails.
• Service-provider dependency. Holders rely on BlackRock, Securitize and BNY performing their roles, and on the legal terms of the fund documents.
• Smart-contract and chain risk. Each share class depends on a token contract and on the underlying blockchain.
• Impersonation. Look-alike tokens using the BUIDL name can appear on public chains. Verify contract addresses only through Securitize or BlackRock, and see crypto phishing.