BlackRock Enters DeFi with BUIDL on Uniswap, $UNI Volatility Follows
BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager ($14 trillion AUM), has made its first direct DeFi engagement, enabling trading for its $2.2 billion Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund ($BUIDL) on Uniswap's infrastructure. The initiative enables 24/7 on-chain trading for its tokenized U.S. Treasury fund via UniswapX, facilitated by Securitize. Access is limited to pre-qualified, whitelisted institutional investors.
BlackRock also announced plans to acquire an undisclosed amount of $UNI. The news led to an immediate $UNI price spike from $3.20 to over $4.50, reflecting 20-50% increases within an hour. However, these gains fully retraced, returning to pre-announcement levels.
Separately, a crypto whale wallet, dormant for four years, moved 4.39 million $UNI tokens shortly before BlackRock's public announcement. The timing of this transaction raised widespread concerns of potential insider trading.
Currently, $UNI trades at $3.40, up 4.3% (24h) but down 8.1% (7d). Its mindshare increased by 0.8%. $BUIDL remains stable at $1.00, with no 24h/7d price change, and mindshare up 0.2%.
Jack Yi's Trend Research Exits $ETH
Jack Yi's Trend Research closed all Ethereum ($ETH) positions. Once Asia's largest $ETH long holder (peak $2.1 billion exposure), this final closure was reported by Arkham monitoring.
This exit follows significant outflows from Ethereum-related investment products, including $129.1 million from $ETH spot ETFs on the preceding day, with BlackRock alone selling $29.4 million in Ethereum.
X Money External Beta Set for 1-2 Month Rollout
Elon Musk announced X Money's external beta launch within 1-2 months. This initial limited beta will precede a broader global rollout, making the financial service available to all X users.
Musk outlined his vision for X Money: to become the "central hub for all financial transactions" within X. He emphasized it will be "a game-change." The design aims to consolidate financial functions, allowing users to store money and manage payments directly within the X app.