Ondo Finance’s governance token (ONDO) experienced an 8% increase on Thursday as the tokenized asset platform tested a new feature allowing near-instant conversions between Circle’s USDC stablecoin and BlackRock’s new BUIDL token.
According to data from Etherscan, an Ondo wallet on Ethereum converted $250,000 worth of BUIDL tokens to USDC as a test of the USDC-to-BUIDL functionality announced by Circle. In a Telegram message to CoinDesk, Ondo Finance CEO Nathan Allman explained that the feature supports continuous 24/7 redemptions of OUSG to USDC. OUSG represents Ondo’s Short-Term U.S. Government Treasuries token backed by U.S. government securities.
ONDO’s price rose as news of the transaction spread across social media, though it later moderated.
From Blackrock to Ondo Finance 👀👀 pic.twitter.com/FX5EVI6hRP
— Pedro DC (@Pedr0_DC) April 11, 2024
Last month, BlackRock, a leading global financial institution, entered the asset tokenization space by introducing the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund. The fund, established in partnership with tokenization firm Securitize, holds cash, U.S. Treasury bills, and repurchase agreements. Investments in the fund are represented by the Ethereum-based BUIDL token, offering daily yields distributed via blockchain to token holders.
Ondo Finance was one of the first to adopt the fund, using it as the asset backing for its OUSG token.