BlackRock's Securitize-issued BUIDL paid a record $4.17 million in March dividends

BlackRock’s USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) paid an estimated $4.17 million in monthly dividends during March, setting a new benchmark for yield generated by tokenized Treasury funds. The onchain money market — which Securitize issues — has dished out some $25.4 million in investor returns within a year, according to a Friday disclosure from the broker-dealer.

Tokenized treasuries like BUIDL offer 24/7 access and exposure to real-world assets (RWAs) like government debt via blockchains, mitigating limitations tied to traditional markets like restricted trading hours and slow settlement. BlackRock’s product leverages this tokenization technology, using decentralized networks to match investors with instant liquidity and provide daily passive income on idle cash.

"BUIDL's market-leading AUM reflects the growing demand for institutional-grade yield on-chain while also showcasing the many benefits of tokenization," Michael Sonnenshein, Securitize COO and former Grayscale CEO, told The Block. "Unlike traditional money market funds, which typically pay dividends monthly, BUIDL delivers daily payouts, providing investors with a return on capital that they can immediately deploy. It’s a clear example of how tokenization is not just making traditional financial products more accessible—but fundamentally better."

Ethereum RWA dominance

BUIDL debuted in March 2024 on Ethereum and has swiftly leapfrogged competitors to lead the tokenized treasuries scene. The fund boasts $1.9 billion in user deposits, more than money markets offered by fellow wealth manager Franklin Templeton and crypto-native Ondo Finance, per RWA.xyz data . Nearly $5 billion in capital is held in the sector, meaning BlackRock and Securitize command roughly 37% of the market share.

The lion’s share of RWAs are issued on Ethereum. Data shows that Ethereum hosts 53% of all tokenized RWAs as of writing, indicating a reliance on the network’s security and smart contract technology for bridging digital finance with traditional finance.

Most of BUIDL’s market capitalization also exists on Ethereum. Securitize noted that it has paid out over 90% of dividends from BlackRock’s onchain treasuries to Ethereum users.

BUIDL is available on six other decentralized networks, including Aptos, Arbitrum, Avalanche, Optimism, Polygon, and most recently Solana .