Uniswap’s governance token jumped after the DEX announced an integration with BlackRock’s tokenized money-market fund, underscoring growing ties between TradFi and DeFi. What happened - Uniswap Labs said it will enable BlackRock’s $2.1 billion tokenized money market product, BUIDL, to trade via UniswapX, the protocol’s RFQ-style marketplace where professional market makers compete to deliver the best price. Securitize—BlackRock’s tokenization partner—will continue to facilitate trading. - The news sent Uniswap’s governance token (UNI) up about 13% in a day, trading around $3.84 on Wednesday, according to CoinGecko. Still, UNI remains down roughly 29% over the past month amid a broader market pullback. Key details and caveats - Uniswap Labs’ release also said BlackRock “made a strategic investment within the Uniswap ecosystem,” but did not disclose the size of that stake. A person familiar with the matter told Decrypt BlackRock plans to buy UNI—which would be the first DeFi token on its balance sheet. BlackRock’s disclosures note any existing investment “may be discontinued at any time.” - Trades for BUIDL on UniswapX will be executed on-chain through the RFQ process used by market makers such as Wintermute and Flowdesk. That setup allows BUIDL tokens to trade like other on-chain assets while preserving some added controls tied to Securitize’s management. Why it matters - BUIDL is one of the largest tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), per RWA.xyz. Its tokens are dollar-pegged and backed by cash and U.S. Treasuries, and unlike many stablecoins, they carry a yield. - Uniswap called the integration a step toward “bridging the gap between traditional finance and DeFi.” Securitize CEO Carlos Domingo framed it as enabling self-custody while bringing traditional trust and regulatory standards to DeFi’s speed and openness—potentially a template for other tokenized real-world assets. Bigger picture - BlackRock executives have publicly argued tokenization will be a major evolution in market infrastructure, enabling near-instant settlement and expanding investable assets. In its 2026 thematic outlook, BlackRock identified Ethereum as a leader in tokenization—relevant because Uniswap launched on Ethereum in 2018 and later rolled out a layer-2 network, Unichain. Bottom line The move links BlackRock’s sizable tokenized product to a major decentralized marketplace, offering a practical use case for RWAs on-chain and a visible institutional nod to DeFi. Whether this translates into sustained demand for UNI or broader institutional adoption will depend on how the integration and any disclosed investments play out. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news