BlackRock Makes a Major Move into DeFi: BUIDL Launches on UniswapX and Will Buy UNI Tokens

February 12, 2026, marks a historic turning point for decentralized finance.

Gate Market Data shows that Uniswap’s native token UNI is currently priced at $3.45, with a 24-hour trading volume of $22.23 million, and a market cap of approximately $2.2 billion. Behind this price stabilization, the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, has dropped a heavyweight bombshell capable of reshaping the DeFi landscape.

Yesterday, Uniswap Labs jointly announced with tokenization platform Securitize the launch of BlackRock’s institutional digital liquidity fund BUIDL, which has over $218 million under management, on UniswapX for on-chain trading. More importantly, BlackRock explicitly stated it will buy UNI tokens of the Uniswap protocol. Although the specific amount was not disclosed, this move is viewed by the crypto community as the “first strategic equity allocation by a traditional financial giant into DeFi infrastructure.”

Stimulated by this news, UNI’s price briefly surged from around $3.30 to $4.50, a jump of over 30%. Although some whale addresses transferred 3.65 million UNI to trading platforms, causing the price to retreat to current levels, market sentiment has shifted significantly.

How does BUIDL trade via UniswapX?

This is not BlackRock’s first foray into blockchain. As early as 2024, it partnered with Securitize to launch the BUIDL fund, focusing on tokenized government bonds. But this time, integrating BUIDL into UniswapX marks BlackRock’s first direct deployment of its core managed fund products into the core liquidity layer of a decentralized trading protocol.

According to official announcements, this integration operates based on UniswapX’s RFQ (Request for Quote) mechanism:

• Entry requirements: Only qualified institutional investors pre-approved and whitelisted by Securitize, with personal assets not less than $5 million;
• Market maker lineup: Initial liquidity provided by compliant market makers such as Flowdesk, Tokka Labs, Wintermate, among others;
• Settlement method: Transactions are settled atomically via smart contracts on the Ethereum mainnet, enabling true on-chain delivery.

Securitize CEO Carlos Domingo described this cooperation as “the first systematic fusion of traditional finance trust and regulatory standards with DeFi’s speed and openness.” Gate Research Institute notes that although initial liquidity is limited to whitelisted participants, this “institution-first, compliance-first” gradual approach is precisely the prerequisite for traditional financial giants to take this step.

From governance tokens to “infrastructure equity”

For a long time, the value capture of UNI tokens mainly depended on governance rights and fee switch expectations. But BlackRock’s strategic purchase has fundamentally rewritten UNI’s asset nature.

Gate Market Data shows that although UNI’s current price has fallen over 92% from its all-time high of $44.92, its on-chain activity and developer submission frequency remain among the top in DeFi. BlackRock’s Global Head of Digital Assets Robert Mitchnick emphasized in a statement: “The integration of BUIDL with UniswapX represents a major leap in the interoperability of tokenized dollar yield funds and stablecoins.”

This means Uniswap is no longer just a “trading asset” DEX but a core trading layer for traditional finance to handle tokenized real-world assets. UNI thus becomes the “equity proof” of this infrastructure.

Uniswap founder Hayden Adams expressed excitement: “DeFi has entered an important day. This collaboration leverages Uniswap’s market structure to provide on-chain trading for BUIDL investors. It’s a key step toward ‘almost all value being tradable on-chain.’”

Short-term volatility and long-term logic of UNI

Looking at price behavior, the surge and subsequent pullback of UNI after the announcement reflect the current market’s complex sentiment.

Gate data shows strong turnover support for UNI in the $3.20–$3.50 range. Noted crypto investor William Mougayar commented: “Extremely bullish on Ethereum; Uniswap is Ethereum’s largest infrastructure. Starting with BUIDL, other tokenized assets will follow quickly.”

Meanwhile, on-chain data reveals movements of some short-term speculative funds. Analyst Yu Yan monitored that after BlackRock’s announcement and UNI’s spike to $4.30, a whale transferred 3.65 million UNI (about $13.43 million) to Coinbase Prime, directly contributing to the price decline.

However, Tony Edward, founder of the Thinking Crypto Podcast, represents a broader industry consensus: “This is a major adoption moment for crypto. BlackRock is embracing DeFi, not just testing it.”

Rational perspective: “First entry” or “ecosystem expansion”?

There are also cautious voices in the community.

Some users point out that BlackRock has previously expanded BUIDL applications via wrapped versions on chains like Polygon and Euler. This integration with UniswapX appears more as an extension of DeFi accessibility rather than a “from zero to one” breakthrough. Moreover, the RFQ mechanism and whitelist system are inherently permissioned environments, differing from Uniswap’s classic permissionless AMM pools.

But this is precisely the path that institutional-grade DeFi must take.

Gate Research Institute believes that traditional financial entry is never a “switch-like” instant explosion but a “valve-like” gradual release. Starting with whitelisted clients with $5 million assets, using compliant market makers as liquidity nodes, and gradually expanding to retail levels once sandbox experience matures—this pathway has been validated in the Bitcoin ETF approval process.

Summary

BlackRock manages over $14 trillion in assets. When it decides to upgrade a token from “investable asset” to “strategic infrastructure component,” it is a milestone that the DeFi industry has long awaited.

For investors focused on the UNI ecosystem, a 30% single-day increase is exciting, but what’s truly noteworthy is February 12, 2026: the world’s largest asset manager, in an official press release, explicitly included “purchasing governance tokens of decentralized exchanges” as part of the cooperation terms for the first time.

This is more meaningful than any technical indicator.

Gate will continue to provide global users with the latest market data and in-depth analysis of UNI and BUIDL ecosystem assets. Institutionalization is an essential gateway for DeFi to mainstream, and that gate is slowly being pushed open by BlackRock.