The investment titan BlackRock has found itself in possession of around $40,000 worth of memecoins and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) after astute observers uncovered one of its purported wallets linked to a new tokenization fund.
On March 15, data revealed a substantial $100 million deposit in USD Coin (USDC) on the Ethereum blockchain, coinciding precisely with the firm’s filing to introduce the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund in collaboration with San Francisco-based asset tokenization firm Securitize.
Since March 19, various anonymous crypto users have sent at least 40 coins and 25 NFTs to the address associated with BlackRock, including Bitcoin-based Ordinals Pepe (PEPE) coins and a CryptoDickbutts S3 NFT. Notably, the transfers also included 500,000 unshETHing_Token (USH) and 10,000 Realio Network (RIO) tokens, valued at $13,755 and $11,600 respectively. Interestingly, the RIO token’s value surged by 47% following its transfer to BlackRock, as per CoinGecko data.
Additionally, the asset manager received substantial quantities of Mog Coin (Mog) VoldemortTrumpRobotnik-10Neko (ETHEREUM) and Shina Inu (SHI). Notable NFTs, such as Chungos and KaijuKingz, were also among the assets sent to BlackRock.
The journey began on March 5 when the BlackRock address initiated a $200 USDC deposit, followed by a $10 test deposit on March 15, culminating in the massive $99,999,960 deposit shortly thereafter.
BlackRock’s CEO Larry Fink has undergone a notable shift in stance regarding Bitcoin (BTC) and the blockchain industry, transitioning from labeling Bitcoin as an “index of money laundering” in 2017 to embracing it more favorably. In June 2023, BlackRock filed for a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), which has since garnered significant volumes within the ETF market. Fink and BlackRock are now setting their sights on tokenizing financial assets on the Ethereum blockchain, envisioning a future where every stock and bond resides on a single ledger. The BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund, with the ticker “BUIDL,” will enable eligible investors to earn U.S. dollar yields by subscribing to the Fund through Securitize Markets, LLC.