BlackRock’s Tokenized Fund BUIDL to be Collateral on Two Major Crypto Exchanges; CRO Jumps 9%

A token that enables investors to track a $2.9 billion BlackRock money market fund was approved as a method of posting collateral on two of the larger crypto exchanges.

Both Crypto.com and Deribit adopted the tokenized USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund known as BUIDL, according to Securitize, the company that issues the token. BUIDL becomes the first tokenized fund focused on US Treasuries to gain such status across multiple major crypto exchanges.

The news sent Crypto.com’s native token, Cronos (CRO), up as much as 9.2% to a peak of about $0.094 at 18:00 UTC on 18 June, as traders rallied behind the asset.

Since early 2025, tokenized U.S. Treasuries have grown about 260%, soaring from $8.6 billion to over $23 billion on-chain. Meanwhile, BUIDL alone has more than quadrupled its assets under management from about $649 million to $2.9 billion. 

With such momentum, BUIDL’s rollout may well trigger a broader shift, signaling that institutional players are ready to seriously integrate tokenized collateral into the core of crypto finance.

From Token to Tool

BUIDL, the fund managed by the world’s largest asset manager BlackRock, is invested in short-term US Treasuries and cash – intended to provide price stability and consistent returns. It was designed to combine a traditional approach to money market funds with the advantages of crypto by offering investors the opportunity to buy into the token – a digital representation of the fund hosted by several different blockchain providers – versus directly acquiring shares in the fund.

Investors can earn a yield from holding BUIDL that’s stored in the related tokens on the blockchain until the investors cash out the equivalent dollar value of the assets. The token currently yields about 4.5% annually, and its new collateral status allows traders to support leveraged positions while continuing to earn passive income.

“The fund is evolving from a yield-bearing token into a core component of crypto market infrastructure,” said Carlos Domingo, CEO of Securitize, said in a statement.

A Better Alternative

Institutional traders have long faced a tough choice when posting collateral on crypto exchanges. They could use stablecoins like USDC or Tether – safe and predictable but offering no yield – or volatile assets like Bitcoin or Ether. In either case, capital often sat idle or exposed, limiting how efficiently it could be used.

BUIDL changes that. It’s a blockchain-based token backed by US Treasuries that holds steady in price and earns yield. Now that it’s accepted as collateral, traders can continue earning while using it to back trades. This frees up other capital that was previously locked or unproductive because it was allocated for collateral payments.

Deribit CEO Luuk Strijers has said that his derivatives-focused exchange has clients searching for yield uninterrupted by crypto’s price swings. Some 80-85% of Deribit’s business is from institutional clients, versus private individuals, according to Strijers.