BlackRock’s BUIDL Fund Goes Mainstream: Crypto.com & Deribit Fuel Institutional Adoption

Wall Street meets DeFi as traditional finance's sleeping giant wakes up.

BlackRock's BUIDL fund—once a cautious toe-dip into crypto—just got two rocket boosters. Crypto.com and Deribit announced full integration, effectively turning the fund into a bridge between institutional cash and blockchain yields. No more custody headaches, no more regulatory limbo—just pure, unfiltered exposure.

Why this matters

When the world's largest asset manager starts playing with digital assets, the game changes. Crypto.com's 80M+ users and Deribit's derivatives firepower create instant liquidity. Suddenly, that "experimental" fund looks like the on-ramp for every hedge fund manager who mocked crypto... until the yields got too juicy to ignore.

The fine print

Of course, BlackRock still charges institutional-sized fees for what's essentially a crypto index fund. Some things never change—Wall Street gonna Wall Street. But with these integrations? The dam might finally be breaking.

• BlackRock’s BUIDL fund is now accepted as collateral by Crypto.com and Deribit.
• BUIDL offers a 4.5% yield with low volatility, improving trading capital efficiency.
• Deribit integration aligns with Coinbase’s potential $2.9B acquisition deal.

BlackRock’s BUIDL fund, a tokenized money market fund backed by U.S. Treasurys, is quickly establishing itself as a transformative force in the crypto trading landscape. In a groundbreaking move, leading exchanges Crypto.com and Deribit have announced plans to accept BUIDL as collateral across their trading platforms, signaling a deeper fusion of traditional finance and the digital asset economy.

🚨 Big news!@BlackRock’s tokenized U.S. Treasury fund, $BUIDL, issued via @Securitize, is now live on Deribit.

Trade it. Earn yield. Use it as collateral.
✔️ 0% spot fees
✔️ Daily rewards on holdings
✔️ Use it as cross-collateral from 20 June

Learn more ⬇️… pic.twitter.com/EtZZEtzGOS

Until now, crypto traders have been forced to choose between parking stablecoins, which offer price stability but no yield, or pledging volatile assets like Bitcoin or ethereum that risk sudden value swings. BlackRock’s BUIDL fund offers an alternative: yield-bearing collateral with minimal price volatility.

With an annual yield of approximately 4.5%, BUIDL allows traders to earn while using the fund as collateral, potentially reducing margin requirements and improving capital efficiency. “This is a major turning point,” said Michael Sonnenshein, COO of Securitize, the blockchain firm that partnered with BlackRock to launch BUIDL. “Tokenized securities are evolving from passive capital to programmable, productive assets,” he told Forbes.

BlackRock BUIDL Fund Expands Into Crypto Trading

Launched in March 2024, BUIDL has already attracted $2.9 billion in assets. Among its largest holders are Ondo Finance and Ethena Labs, two leading entities in the rapidly growing real-world asset (RWA) and stablecoin sectors. Now, its utility is expanding directly into crypto trading infrastructure.

Crypto.com, which serves more than 140 million users worldwide, will offer BUIDL as collateral for institutional clients across spot, margin, derivatives, and OTC trading in select jurisdictions. Deribit, the world’s largest crypto options exchange, will integrate BUIDL into its futures, options, and spot markets, marking a significant shift from its traditionally Bitcoin-heavy collateral base.

“For us, it’s about choice and efficiency,” said Deribit CEO Luuk Strijers. “The majority of our users are institutional, and many hold cash, not crypto. They don’t want to lose yield just to get access to leverage.”

The timing of this integration may prove even more significant as Coinbase is currently in the process of acquiring Deribit in a $2.9 billion deal. If completed, BUIDL’s adoption could quickly extend into Coinbase’s expansive ecosystem, accelerating the mainstream adoption of tokenized U.S. Treasurys across both American financial markets and crypto trading venues.

BlackRock BUIDL Fund Boosts Tokenization Growth

The rise of tokenized real-world assets reflects a broader trend in global finance. According to a joint report by the Global Financial Markets Association (GFMA) and Boston Consulting Group, tokenized illiquid assets could reach a total market size of $16 trillion by 2030. Even conservative forecasts from Citigroup estimate $4 trillion to $5 trillion in tokenized digital securities by decade’s end.

Traditional financial giants are responding to this seismic shift. Goldman Sachs plans to introduce three new tokenization products later this year, citing growing institutional demand. Meanwhile, decentralized protocols like Toucan, KlimaDAO (focused on carbon markets), and Propy (specializing in real estate tokenization) are experiencing notable user growth, further validating the momentum behind tokenization.

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The embrace of BlackRock’s BUIDL fund by major crypto exchanges represents a watershed moment in the integration of traditional and digital finance. As more institutional investors seek exposure to programmable, yield-generating, and transparent assets, tokenization is poised to redefine the very foundations of capital markets worldwide.

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