BlackRock ETFs Tokenized on Base by Backed Finance

The Backed Finance protocol is launching its "tokenized bond" offering on the Layer-2 Base. It began with BlackRock's "iShares bond ETF UCITS", which tracks a combination of short-term US Treasury bills. The company took on this challenge as an opportunity to bring "tokenization" into traditional finance (TradFi) and drive the financial system's revolution, starting with the ability to tokenize any asset held in a bank account.

For Base, this is the first time the network has ventured into this sector, following the trend already set by entities like Aave and Maker on other blockchains. According to Adam Levi, co-founder of Backed, as he mentioned in an interview with Decrypt, the advantage for companies is that they don't have to interface with TradFi directly. In this context, Base represents a favorable and high-potential channel, being supported by a platform like Coinbase and a large number of developers.

RWAs and "tokenization" have become central in recent times. With crypto prices on the decline, various decentralized financial protocols are trying to capitalize on this trend. For instance, Maker has already integrated US Treasury bonds to provide yield to its native stablecoin, DAI.

This dynamic is functional to the current market nature, which has a high demand for fixed-income products. Therefore, protocols and users have shown particular interest in short-term bonds. It wouldn't be surprising if, in the near future, we also see tokenized stocks, such as those of Google or Tesla.