Moody’s Ratings has assigned its highest credit rating to Blackrock’s USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL), according to a recent announcement.
Key Takeaways:
- Blackrock’s BUIDL fund secured a top AAA-mf rating from Moody’s this week for its $2.58 billion AUM.
- The AAA-mf rating signals that tokenized Ethereum assets now meet the highest institutional safety standards.
- Following the BUIDL and Fidelity FILQ ratings, the $15 billion tokenized debt market expects further expansion.
Institutional Grade: Moody’s Assigns Aaa-mf Rating to Blackrock’s BUIDL
The agency issued a AAA-mf rating to the fund, also known as BUIDL, on or around May 13, 2026. This classification places the tokenized fund on the same risk level as the most secure traditional money market instruments.
Operating on the Ethereum blockchain, BUIDL has seen steady growth since its March 2024 launch. Moody’s reported that the fund now manages approximately $2.58 billion in assets.
The rating indicates that the fund has a high capacity to preserve capital and maintain liquidity. Moody’s applied the same methodology used for legacy funds to evaluate BUIDL’s credit profile and operational structure.
Securitize, which handles tokenization for the fund, confirmed the rating via social media. This update comes at the same time as Moody’s rated Fidelity’s Ethereum-based USD Liquidity Fund at the highest Aaa-mf level.
Fidelity’s fund, known as FILQ, also received the top rating. Both products offer institutional investors exposure to U.S. Treasury yields through blockchain-based tokens.
BUIDL invests in short-term U.S. Treasuries, reverse repurchase agreements, and cash equivalents. It maintains a $1 net asset value and pays out daily yield directly to investor wallets.
The market for tokenized U.S. government debt has grown significantly, rising from $1 billion to over $15 billion in two years. Blackrock’s fund currently accounts for about 15% of this sector.
The AAA-mf rating is expected to help conservative institutions, such as pension funds, satisfy internal requirements for asset safety. Many of these entities are restricted from investing in unrated financial products.
By using blockchain, these funds allow for 24/7 settlement and yield accrual. This differs from traditional finance systems that typically rely on multi-day settlement cycles.
The total value of tokenized real-world assets has reached roughly $31 billion. Moody’s involvement suggests that the industry is moving toward standardized institutional oversight.
Other firms in the tokenized Treasury space may now face pressure to seek similar ratings. The move by Moody’s sets a new benchmark for how digital liquidity funds are assessed by global agencies.