Ethena Labs has minted an additional $225 million worth of BUIDL tokens from BlackRock.
With this minting, Ethena’s total ownership of BUIDL has now reached $1.29 billion, according to Arkham. The BUIDL token itself is a tokenized version of a money market fund managed by BlackRock, containing assets such as cash, short-term US government bonds, and repo agreements. This token was launched through a collaboration between BlackRock and Securitize.
ETHENA NOW HOLDS OVER $1B OF BLACKROCK BUIDL TOKENS
ETHENA JUST MINTED $225M BUIDL-I CLASS
— Arkham (@arkham) March 25, 2025
When Over 90% Comes from One Basket
USDe, Ethena’s synthetic stablecoin, is now backed by $1.4 billion in assets. And interestingly, more than 90% of it actually comes from the BUIDL token itself. The rest comes from Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC). It can be said that Ethena now relies on the performance of the BlackRock token for USDe’s life. On the one hand, this gives them a strong foundation because they are supported by clear and legal instruments. But on the other hand, this kind of dependence can also be a headache if at any time there is a change in policy from their partners.
For example, Ethena GmbH, a subsidiary of Ethena Labs based in Germany, was recently banned by BaFin—the German financial regulator. CNF reported that BaFin prohibited them from offering the USDe stablecoin publicly in the region. As a result, since then, the distribution of USDe in Germany has officially stopped.
Riding the Wave of Tokenized Treasuries
The background to Ethena’s aggressive move can be understood if we look at the current market conditions. Tokenization of US government debt-based assets is trending. The market capitalization of this sector has reached $5.2 billion. In fact, the average yield offered is 4.34%, which is pretty attractive when compared to lower savings interest rates.
Ethena may be taking advantage of the momentum. At a time when many retail investors are having difficulty accessing “serious” financial instruments, Ethena is trying to be a bridge connecting the world of traditional finance and DeFi. They know that people are not just looking for “celebrity” crypto on X, but also assets that can generate real returns.
How Ethena Plans to Open DeFi for Everyone
Still in March, Ethena Labs and Securitize also announced the launch of a new blockchain called Converge. This blockchain will be compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine and is designed to provide wider access for retail investors to DeFi applications and institutional products.
If we compare it, Converge is like a new toll road connecting the city of DeFi with the city of Wall Street. Anyone can pass through, as long as they know the route.
Meanwhile, as of press time, ENA is swapped hands at about $0.4242, up 1.96% over the last 24 hours and 14.88% over the last 7 days.
Emirates NBD Taps into BlackRock’s Playbook
Interestingly, it’s not just Ethena that is increasingly close to BlackRock. Dubai-based Emirates NBD Bank has also partnered with the asset management giant. The goal is to provide access to alternative asset classes for their wealth management clients.
The focus is on private markets, including private credit and multi-alternatives. This is a signal that the traditional financial world is also starting to adopt a DeFi-like structure—but its own version, of course, with a more “official” taste.