BlackRock’s flagship tokenized money market fund, BUIDL, has officially distributed over $100 million in cumulative dividends to its holders. The BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL), which launched in early 2024, has rapidly scaled to become a multi-billion dollar juggernaut, proving that tokenized finance is no longer a peripheral experiment but a core component of modern capital markets. By distributing actual U.S. Treasury yields directly to on-chain wallets, BlackRock and its partner Securitize have demonstrated that blockchain technology can handle institutional-grade payouts at a scale previously reserved for traditional settlement systems.

• A major financial milestone has been reached, marking the first time a tokenized fund has distributed nine figures in yields.
• Discover how this fund operates across seven different blockchains to provide instant liquidity and daily dividends.
• Learn why industry strategists believe these products are becoming the essential "cash equivalent" for the digital age.

The success of the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) stems from its ability to mirror the reliability of traditional money markets while utilizing the speed of the blockchain. The fund primarily invests in short-term U.S. Treasury bills, repurchase agreements, and cash equivalents. However, unlike a traditional brokerage account where dividends might take days to settle, BUIDL tokens are pegged to the U.S. dollar and pay out daily accrued interest directly to investors' wallets as new tokens.

This milestone of $100 million in lifetime payouts is a testament to the operational efficiencies of tokenized finance. By cutting out several layers of intermediaries, the fund enables faster settlement and transparent ownership records. This efficiency has driven the fund's value to surpass $2.5 billion as of late 2025, capturing over 40% of the tokenized Treasury market. The growth has been further bolstered by its expansion beyond Ethereum to networks like Solana, Avalanche, and the BNB Chain, where it now serves as a foundational layer for decentralized finance (DeFi) and institutional trading alike.

The rapid ascent of BUIDL is part of a broader trend where traditional financial giants are moving their high-quality assets onto public ledgers. As tokenized finance moves from pilot programs into production-scale infrastructure, it is bridging the gap between legacy banking and the "Everything Exchange" vision currently being pursued by firms like Coinbase. We are seeing a convergence where low-risk instruments are being used as highly liquid collateral. For instance, major platforms like Binance and Deribit now accept BUIDL as off-exchange collateral, allowing traders to earn yield on their "sidelined" cash while maintaining active market positions.

This shift is increasingly supported by a maturing regulatory landscape. The passage of the GENIUS Act in mid-2025 provided the first comprehensive federal framework for stablecoins in the U.S., which in turn has given institutions more confidence to hold interest-bearing digital assets. This progress aligns with other global shifts, such as Japan’s recent reclassification of crypto as financial products and the FDIC’s proposed guidance on tokenized deposit insurance, both of which aim to bring digital dollars firmly under the umbrella of investor protection.

While stablecoins have traditionally dominated the digital asset space as a medium of exchange, tokenized money market funds are emerging as a sophisticated rival. J.P. Morgan strategists have noted that these funds preserve the appeal of "cash as an asset," providing a yield-bearing alternative to non-interest-bearing stablecoins. This dynamic is reshaping how corporate treasuries manage liquidity. Instead of holding idle USDC, institutions can now hold BUIDL, earning 4–5% in Treasury yields while retaining the ability to move those assets 24/7/365.

However, the rapid growth of these products has not escaped scrutiny. The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has warned that the integration of tokenized funds as collateral could introduce new liquidity risks if not properly managed. Despite these warnings, the momentum behind BlackRock's initiative suggests that the future of finance is a "single digital wallet" where stocks, bonds, and digital currencies coexist. As BlackRock CEO Larry Fink famously noted, tokenization is quietly rewiring the global markets, proving that the digital upgrade of the financial system is now well underway.

FAQs

What is BlackRock's BUIDL fund?
The BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) is a tokenized money market fund. It allows institutional investors to earn U.S. Treasury yields on-chain by holding tokens that are pegged to the U.S. dollar and backed by high-quality, short-term assets.

How do investors receive dividends from BUIDL?
Dividends are accrued daily and paid out directly to the investors' blockchain wallets as new tokens at the end of each month. This automated, on-chain process is a key feature of tokenized finance.

What blockchains does BUIDL support?
Initially launched on Ethereum, the fund has expanded to several other major networks, including Solana, Avalanche, Aptos, Optimism, Polygon, and the BNB Chain, to increase its reach and utility for institutional clients.

Why is the $100 million payout milestone significant?
This milestone proves that tokenized finance can function at a massive scale, successfully distributing nine figures in actual investment yields to holders through blockchain technology rather than traditional bank wires.

Is BUIDL accessible to retail investors?
No, BUIDL is specifically designed for qualified institutional and accredited investors, with a typical minimum initial investment of $5 million.