BlackRock (BLK) crypto push deepens with Ethena integration, sending ENA up 8%

Ethena said its yield-generating “synthetic dollar” token will be integrated into BlackRock’s (BLK) Aladdin risk management platform as the crypto protocol is deepening its relationship with traditional finance firms.

The Monday announcement sent Ethena’s governance token ENA (ENA) up about 8% on the day as investors welcomed another high-profile institutional partnership.

Aladdin is BlackRock’s portfolio construction and risk management platform used by banks, insurers, pension funds and asset managers overseeing more than $20 trillion in combined assets.

Ethena also said BlackRock’s tokenized money market fund, BUIDL, will serve as the primary reserve asset for a forthcoming white-label product.

The firms also unveiled a $100 million liquidity facility that will allow eligible holders of BlackRock’s tokenized Treasury fund, BUIDL, to exchange their holdings for USDC, USDtb and other supported stablecoins outside traditional market hours, and convert those assets back into BUIDL.

“We believe stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets to be inextricably linked,” Robert Mitchnick, BlackRock’s head of digital assets, said in a statement. “This liquidity facility enables a level of frictionless interoperability that is core to the unique utility that tokenizing treasury funds makes possible.”