BlackRock Drops Bomb: $150B Treasury Fund Goes On-Chain

Wall Street’s 800-pound gorilla just shoved traditional finance deeper into the blockchain era. BlackRock filed paperwork to tokenize shares of its $150 billion Treasury trust—turning Uncle Sam’s debt into digital assets.

The move follows the firm’s Bitcoin ETF success, suggesting even conservative institutions see value in cutting out middlemen. Tokenization could let investors trade Treasury exposure 24/7 without waiting for market hours—if regulators don’t strangle it in red tape first.

Funny how ’risk-averse’ asset managers suddenly love crypto when there’s $150B in fees up for grabs.

• BlackRock’s $150B Treasury Trust Fund to Offer DLT-Based Shares
• DLT shares to be sold through BNY Mellon, minimum $3M investment
• CEO Larry Fink envisions tokenization revolutionizing Investments

BlackRock submitted a prospectus to introduce digital shares for its $150 billion Treasury Trust Fund through distributed ledger technology (DLT). The DLT shares will only be accessible via BNY Mellon. This move marks a major step in BlackRock’s tokenization initiatives which matches CEO Larry Fink’s approach to reshape investments using blockchain technology.

BlackRock’s DLT Shares

BlackRock’s Treasury Trust Fund, a money market fund, holds assets worth more than $150 billion. The digital shares will track the value of this fund but excludes crypto assets. However, blockchain technology will create a duplicate record of share ownership to enhance transparency. Institutional investors must invest at least $3 million to acquire the digital shares.

The DLT shares will be sold and managed at BNY Mellon which will use blockchain technology to track ownership. This is a major upgrade from the traditional approaches which relies on book-entry records. BlackRock seeks to provide efficient and transparent investment options. However, the company has excluded crypto assets from their tokenization initiatives.

Tokenization of Real World Assets(RWAs)

The decision reflects BlackRock’s long-term approach to leverage innovative technologies in finance. Larry Fink, in his annual letter to investors, stressed on the transformative potential of tokenization. Fink believes the adoption of tokenized assets could enable instant transaction settlement. 

Furthermore, Fink stated that tokenization could increase investor participation. It allows fractional ownership of shares which unlocks investment markets which had been off-limits to traditional investors. Tokenized assets could provide digital voting rights to shareholders and improve yield generation for investors.

However, Fink highlighted the continuous identity verification challenges for tokenized assets. He believes that a solution to these issues could increase the adoption of tokenized fund issues just like traditional ETFs. Other finance firms such as JPMorgan and State Street are exploring the tokenization of assets through blockchain applications.

BlackRock Joins Tokenized Products Race

The SEC is currently reviewing BlackRock’s application with possible amendments to be made before it is approved. The prospectus for DLT shares does not disclose the ticker information and management fees which could be modified in the future. Moreover, Fidelity’s recently made an application to launch a similar tokenized product which shows the increased institutional interest in blockchain products.

Several asset managers continue to explore the tokenization of treasury bills, bonds, and private credit. If the SEC approves the BlackRock DLT Shares, it could lead to increased  adoption of tokenized shares and shape transparency in investment markets.