BlackRock, which manages over $10 trillion in funds, has applied to be part of Arbitrum’s STEP program, which is designed to diversify the treasury of the L2 network’s DAO.
STEP, a program introduced in an Arbitrum governance proposal in mid-April, aims to contribute to the diversification of assets that form part of the blockchain network's DAO treasury.
Through this program, Devansh Mehta, leader of the Arbitrum DAO working group, seeks to diversify 35 million ARB tokens, which is currently worth about $35 million, to real-world assets (RWA), which are “stable, liquid and yielding assets.”
The program is seeking service providers to diversify the designated number of ARB tokens and is currently evaluating applications received from several financial institutions, including BlackRock, to serve as STEP service provider.
Securitize, BlackRock and Arbitrum
BlackRock's application to become one of the service providers for Arbitrum's STEP program was made through the company Securitize.
Carlos Domingo, founder and CEO of Securitize, confirmed the filing for STEP, stating that the company is seeking to become part of the blockchain DAO as a placement agent for BlackRock’s BUIDL.
Securitize is the distributor of BlackRock's tokenized BUIDL fund on the Ethereum blockchain. To date, this fund has accumulated a market capitalization of more than $ 380 million dollars.
The asset management company’s application to be part of the governance of an open-source blockchain like Arbitrum has been applauded by the crypto community, which points to the disruptive change that blockchain-based digital finance is bringing to the current financial system.
Allred Chase, from Arbitrum and OffChain Labs partnerships, he highlighted that now TradFi institutions are approaching the blockchain ecosystem more frequently and with less suspicion.
“People said institutions would never come. Now they’re posting on DAO forums,” Chase commented on his X account.
With this filing, BlackRock and Securitize are expanding their influence in the cryptocurrency and digital asset industry.
For its part, the autonomous organization Arbitrum indicated that it will be evaluating the applications for service providers received until June 5 of this year. The organization noted that this evaluation period is necessary to choose service providers that fit its objectives. It also emphasized that the choice of providers will be subject to the DAO approval, through an instant off-chain vote that will take place on June 20.
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