Crypto And Finance: BlackRock Adopts Solana For Its Blockchain Fund

The world of crypto continues to blur the boundaries with traditional finance. This time, it is BlackRock making a media splash by integrating Solana into its tokenized money fund, BUIDL. A decision that is not merely a technical adjustment, but a strong signal: blockchain is no longer a marginal experiment. It is becoming the backbone of a financial revolution in progress.

BlackRock and Tokenization: An Uncomplicated Strategy

Since the launch of BUIDL in 2023, BlackRock has methodically woven its web into the crypto ecosystem, and now, a rare signal is activating, announcing a possible explosion of bitcoin.

This fund, designed to marry the stability of traditional money markets with the agility of blockchains, has just added crypto Solana to its arsenal.

The result? Investors can now access it via seven blockchains, including Ethereum, Polygon, and Avalanche. But behind this diversification lies a broader ambition: to transform “dormant” assets into dynamic instruments.

Tokenization, often seen as a technophile whim, takes on a concrete meaning here. By anchoring money market funds on decentralized ledgers, BlackRock offers unprecedented liquidity.

No more time constraints of traditional exchanges. Transactions occur 24/7, an imperative in a world where crypto markets never sleep.

“We are making these products less boring,” summarizes Michael Sonnenshein of Securitize, a partner of BlackRock. Implicitly: blockchain unleashes a potential previously stifled by bureaucratic constraints.

With 1.7 billion dollars in assets under management and a projection to 2 billion by April, BUIDL is not just a test.

It is a laboratory for hybrid finance. Stablecoins like USDC or USDT, while practical, generate no yield. BlackRock fills this gap with an interest-generating product, responding to a growing demand: to protect capital without sacrificing the flexibility of cryptos.

Crypto: Solana, the Bold Bet of a Borderless Finance

But why Solana crypto, overshadowed by Ethereum in institutional discussions? The answer is summed up in three letters: speed, cost, scalability.

While Ethereum remains mired in variable transaction fees and sometimes frustrating latency, Solana offers a throughput of 65,000 transactions per second for a negligible cost. A decisive argument for BlackRock, which seeks to attract both institutional players and high-frequency traders.

This choice is not isolated. Figure Markets, founded by the former CEO of SoFi, has just received SEC approval for a yield-generating stablecoin.

Franklin Templeton has also launched its own blockchain money fund. Competition is tough, but Solana establishes itself as a credible outsider.
Meanwhile, BlackRock is accelerating its crypto pivot. Its Bitcoin ETF, launched in January 2024, has already attracted nearly 40 billion dollars. By adopting Solana and sounding the alarm about the weakness of its Ethereum ETF, BlackRock is not following a trend: it is anticipating it.