Crypto RWA Brief - April 29, 2026

BlackRock's BUIDL fund, now surpassing $2 billion in AUM, is being integrated into OKX's trading infrastructure, allowing qualified investors to use its tokenized U.S. Treasury bills as collateral for trading margin. This collaboration, involving Standard Chartered as custodian, marks a significant step for on-chain institutional finance by enabling capital to earn yield while deployed for trading. Key Highlights: • BlackRock's BUIDL fund, holding U.S. Treasury bills, is now usable as trading collateral on OKX for qualified investors, with Standard Chartered acting as custodian. • Ondo Finance partnered with Broadridge to enable shareholder voting rights for holders of over 250 of its tokenized stocks and ETFs using Web3-enabled solutions. • The RWA market climbed above $30 billion, supported by new infrastructure like FIS's Lyriq platform for tokenized deposits and Securitize's agreement with Computershare for tokenized equity issuance. • SEC Chair Paul Atkins signaled the agency will launch an "Innovation Exemption" regulatory sandbox within weeks, allowing firms to issue and trade tokenized securities on public blockchains without full SEC registration for 12-36 months. Topics: BlackRock, BUIDL, OKX, tokenized treasuries, RWA, Ondo Finance, tokenized equities, FIS Lyriq, tokenized deposits, Securitize, SEC, regulatory sandbox --- TRANSCRIPT BlackRock's tokenized treasury fund is now being used as trading collateral on a major crypto exchange, marking a new phase for on-chain institutional finance. Good day, and welcome to the Crypto RWA Brief. In a significant step for institutional adoption, BlackRock's USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund, known as BUIDL, is being integrated into the trading infrastructure of crypto exchange OKX. Announced this week, the new framework allows qualified investors to use the BUIDL token, which represents a share in a money market fund holding U.S. Treasury bills, as collateral for trading margin. This development is notable because it allows capital to remain productive, earning yield from the underlying government-backed instruments while also being deployed for trading activities. The arrangement involves Standard Chartered, which will act as the custodian for the assets, holding them off-exchange in a regulated environment. This collaboration aims to solve a long-standing inefficiency for institutional traders, where cash held on exchanges as collateral typically earns no return. The news comes as BlackRock's BUIDL fund surpassed two billion dollars in assets under management this week, solidifying its position as the largest tokenized money market fund. In other news, Ondo Finance has enabled shareholder voting rights for its tokenized securities. Through a partnership with global fintech provider Broadridge, announced on April 28th, holders of more than 250 of Ondo's tokenized stocks and ETFs can now participate in proxy voting. The integration uses a new Web3-enabled solution from Broadridge, allowing investors to use their crypto wallets to access company filings and express voting preferences, a feature that bridges a key gap between traditional securities and their on-chain counterparts. This move is seen as a milestone in the evolution of tokenized equities, adding a critical layer of governance functionality to real-world assets on the blockchain. The market for Liquid Mercury and Fernhill Corp was quiet this week, with no major announcements. The broader market for real-world asset tokenization has climbed back above the thirty-billion-dollar mark in total value, according to data from rwa.xyz. This growth is supported by new infrastructure being built by traditional finance players. On April 29th, financial technology giant FIS announced the launch of Lyriq, a new platform designed for regulated banks to issue, manage, and settle their own digital money, including tokenized deposits. The system is built to integrate with existing core banking systems and keeps the tokenized assets on the bank's balance sheet. Also this week, tokenization firm Securitize announced an agreement with Computershare, the world's largest transfer agent, to create a pathway for U.S.-listed companies to issue their equity securities in a tokenized format. Finally, a note on the regulatory front from the United States. At the Bitcoin 2026 conference on April 27th, SEC Chair Paul Atkins signaled that the agency will launch a formal regulatory sandbox for tokenized securities within weeks. The program, referred to as the "Innovation Exemption," will allow firms to issue and trade tokenized securities on public blockchains for a period of 12 to 36 months without full SEC registration, operating under specific constraints and reporting requirements. That's your Crypto RWA Brief for April 29, 2026. We'll see you next episode.