Renowned asset management firm BlackRock has recently acquired a significant amount of memecoins and nonfungible tokens (NFTs), totaling at least $40,000. This discovery was made by online investigators who uncovered one of BlackRock’s wallets associated with a new tokenization fund.
According to data, a deposit of $100 million in USDC, a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar, was made on the Ethereum blockchain on March 15. This coincided with BlackRock’s filing to offer the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund in partnership with asset tokenization firm Securitize.
Since March 19, unidentified cryptocurrency users have sent 40 different coins and 25 NFTs to BlackRock’s address. These include tokens like Ordinals Pepe (PEPE) and CryptoDickbutts S3 NFT. Additionally, BlackRock received 500,000 unshETHing_Token (USH) and 10,000 Realio Network (RIO) tokens, which hold a value of $13,755 and $11,600 respectively.
Interestingly, the RIO token, which represents real-world assets, has seen a 47% increase in value since it was transferred to BlackRock, as reported by CoinGecko. BlackRock also received significant quantities of Mog Coin (Mog), VoldemortTrumpRobotnik-10Neko (ETHEREUM), Shina Inu (SHI), and notable NFTs like Chungos and KaijuKingz.
The BlackRock address initially made a $200 USDC deposit on March 5, followed by a $10 test deposit on March 15. Shortly after, it deposited $99,999,960, according to Etherscan.
It is worth noting that BlackRock’s CEO, Larry Fink, has undergone a change in his stance toward Bitcoin and the blockchain industry. In 2017, he referred to Bitcoin as an “index of money laundering,” but he has since become more open to the technology. BlackRock even filed for a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in June 2023, which has been approved and is experiencing high trading volumes.
Fink and BlackRock are now exploring opportunities to tokenize financial assets on the Ethereum blockchain. In a recent Bloomberg interview, Fink stated, “We believe the next step going forward will be the tokenization of financial assets, and that means every stock, every bond […] will be on one general ledger.”
The BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund will be known as “BUIDL” and will offer eligible investors the chance to earn U.S. dollar yields by subscribing to the Fund through Securitize Markets, LLC. This move signifies the transformative impact of blockchain technology on the real estate market.