BlackRock has enabled institutional holders of its roughly $2.5bn tokenized money market fund to use BUIDL as collateral for trading on OKX, allowing them to earn yields on US Treasuries without selling assets and forgoing returns.
BlackRock BUIDL Boosts Capital Efficiency on OKX
28 April 2026 - 18:30 CEST
Premium and institutional clients of OKX Middle East can now deploy BUIDL holdings as collateral, while the assets stay secured and custodied by Standard Chartered (StanChart). This setup eliminates the need to liquidate positions, reducing opportunity costs and enhancing capital efficiency for traders seeking leveraged exposure or derivatives on the exchange.
BUIDL, BlackRock’s onchain short-term fund, invests primarily in US Treasuries, cash equivalents and repurchase agreements while maintaining a $1 peg. Recent data shows its total value locked (TVL) has grown to approximately $2.5bn–$2.8bn.
"By enabling institutions to deploy BUIDL as onchain collateral on OKX’s global platform, we improve capital efficiency while demonstrating how traditional financial instruments can operate seamlessly in digital markets," Haider Rafique, Global Managing Partner at OKX, said in the 28 Apr statement.
OKX CEO stresses risk controls
Rifad Mahasneh, CEO of OKX Middle East and North Africa, added that the product "was designed to minimize risk rather than add layers of risk," turning idle collateral into productive, yield-bearing assets.
TradFi crypto convergence accelerates
The collaboration between BlackRock, StanChart and OKX reflects deepening integration between traditional finance and digital markets. BlackRock has become a major institutional crypto player. Its iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) held Bitcoin (BTC) worth $63.4bn as of 27 Apr.
London-listed StanChart has expanded its crypto activities through custody platform Zodia, a stablecoin licence in Hong Kong and tokenization platform Libeara. Custodying BUIDL for trading use aligns with its bridging strategy between banking infrastructure and blockchain.
Competitive landscape intensifies
Binance has already integrated BlackRock’s BUIDL and Franklin Templeton’s BENJI tokenized fund into similar off-exchange collateral frameworks. The OKX arrangement, following a prior Franklin Templeton pilot with StanChart, signals tokenized Treasuries are evolving from yield vehicles into active trading tools across major platforms.
Risks, regulatory outlook
While the structure leverages regulated custody at a global systemically important bank, institutions must still weigh counterparty exposure to the exchange, smart contract or operational risks in hybrid setups, and evolving regulatory scrutiny. In the US and Middle East, authorities continue to examine tokenized asset frameworks for investor protection and systemic stability implications.
The partnership positions BUIDL as both a conservative yield product and practical trading collateral, potentially setting a template for broader adoption. As tokenized real-world assets gain traction, similar innovations could face closer regulatory examination, particularly around cross-border custody, collateral valuation and financial stability in major jurisdictions. Observers anticipate further product expansions as asset managers and exchanges compete to offer seamless TradFi-crypto workflows.
