David Edwards
BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager with over $11 trillion in assets under management (AUM), has expanded its tokenized fund, the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL), to five additional blockchain networks: Aptos, Arbitrum, Avalanche, Optimism’s OP Mainnet, and Polygon. Initially launched on Ethereum in March 2024, BUIDL is a tokenized money market fund backed by short-term U.S. government bonds, maintaining a stable value of $1 per token.coindesk.com
This strategic expansion enables real-time, native interactions across multiple blockchain ecosystems. Notably, BUIDL has become the largest tokenized fund on a public blockchain, amassing over $520 million in assets. By extending BUIDL’s reach beyond Ethereum, BlackRock enhances institutional adoption of tokenized assets, offering investors on-chain yield opportunities, flexible custody solutions, near-instant peer-to-peer transfers, and seamless on-chain dividend accrual and distribution.
Polygon serves as a critical infrastructure layer for BlackRock’s BUIDL program, providing the scalability required to support institutional investments. It achieves this by utilizing sidechains, also known as Plasma chains, to process transactions off the main Ethereum chain. This approach increases transaction throughput, reduces congestion, and significantly lowers transaction fees compared to Ethereum’s mainnet. Additionally, Polygon’s modular framework supports various scaling solutions, such as zero-knowledge (ZK) rollups and optimistic rollups, catering to diverse application needs.
Despite its strong technological foundation, Polygon’s native token, MATIC, has experienced significant price declines since reaching an all-time high of $2.92 in 2021. As of March 21, 2025, MATIC is trading at approximately $0.2067, reflecting a 78.8% decrease over the past year and a 13.9% drop in the last 14 days. The token’s market capitalization currently stands at $394.43 million, with a 24-hour trading volume of $2.46 million.
In summary, BlackRock’s expansion of its tokenized fund BUIDL to multiple blockchain networks, including Polygon, underscores the growing institutional interest in blockchain technology and tokenized assets. While Polygon’s infrastructure continues to attract significant projects, the MATIC token has faced substantial price challenges, reflecting broader market dynamics
