BlackRock has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to introduce a blockchain-powered share class, dubbed “DLT Shares,” for its $150 billion Treasury Trust Fund. The company announced its recent move via a Form N-1A filing on April 29, 2025, signaling a significant evolution in how traditional assets could be managed and traded in the digital era.
The Trust Fund is one of the largest money market funds globally, investing primarily in highly liquid U.S. Treasury securities. The proposed DLT shares—short for Distributed Ledger Technology Shares—will not hold cryptocurrencies but instead use blockchain to mirror shared ownership records. BNY Mellon will exclusively facilitate the DLT Shares’ blockchain aspect, maintaining a blockchain-based mirror ledger for institutional clients.
DLT Shares require an initial investment of $3 million, but there is no minimum for subsequent purchases. The fund will continue to use traditional book-entry records as its official ledger, but the blockchain mirror aims to enhance transparency, efficiency, and security in record-keeping.
Race for Blockchain-Powered Fund Tokenization
Besides BlackRock, other financial giants, including JPMorgan, State Street, and Franklin Templeton, have also explored blockchain-powered fund tokenization. Fidelity also recently filed to list an Ethereum-based OnChain share class for its Treasury Digital Fund.
BlackRock’s own blockchain-native BUIDL fund, launched in partnership with Securitize, has amassed over $2.5 billion in assets on Ethereum, further cementing the firm’s commitment to on-chain finance.
This race for blockchain-powered fund tokenization is a result of the growing market for blockchain in real-world asset tokenization, which exceeds $6 billion. Ethereum has emerged as the dominant platform for such assets.
While the SEC filing for DLT Shares is still in its preliminary stages and awaits regulatory approval, if approved, it could mark a watershed moment for integrating blockchain into the core of traditional asset management, potentially paving the way for faster, more transparent, and inclusive financial markets.
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