BlackRock's BUIDL Fund Now Trading on Uniswap as Traditional Finance Bridges DeFi

BlackRock's USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) is now tradable on Uniswap Labs' UniswapX protocol, marking the first time a major asset manager's tokenized fund can be seamlessly exchanged on a decentralized platform.

The integration, announced Wednesday in partnership with Securitize, allows whitelisted institutional investors to swap BUIDL shares for USDC 24/7 through an automated request-for-quote system. The move represents a significant step in merging traditional finance infrastructure with decentralized trading venues.

"Enabling BUIDL on UniswapX with BlackRock and Securitize supercharges our mission by creating efficient markets, better liquidity, and faster settlement," Hayden Adams, Uniswap Labs' founder and CEO, said in a statement.

The technical architecture relies on Securitize Markets to facilitate trades through UniswapX's RFQ framework. The system automatically routes requests to whitelisted market participants including Flowdesk, Tokka Labs, and Wintermute, then settles trades atomically on-chain through smart contracts. All participants are pre-qualified and whitelisted by Securitize.

The arrangement preserves traditional finance's compliance standards while leveraging DeFi's speed and accessibility. Investors can execute trades independently with self-custody, without routing orders through centralized brokers.

"For the first time, institutions and whitelisted investors can access technology from a leader in the decentralized finance space to trade tokenized real-world assets like BUIDL with self-custody," Carlos Domingo, CEO of Securitize, said.

BlackRock has also made a "strategic investment" within the Uniswap ecosystem, signaling confidence in the protocol's role in tokenized asset trading. Robert Mitchnick, global head of digital assets at BlackRock, characterized the integration as "a major leap forward in the interoperability of tokenized USD yield funds with stablecoins."

BUIDL, which launched last year, has attracted significant institutional inflows by offering exposure to short-term US Treasury yields through tokenized shares. The integration on UniswapX expands distribution channels and liquidity options for the fund beyond traditional settlement venues, addressing a key friction point for institutional participation in on-chain markets.