Standard Chartered, BlackRock, and OKX Let Institutions Post BUIDL as Tokenized Treasury Collateral

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Standard Chartered, BlackRock, and OKX have launched a framework that lets institutional clients use BlackRock’s tokenized U.S. Treasury fund as trading collateral on OKX. Standard Chartered will hold the assets in off-exchange custody, segregated from the exchange’s balance sheet.

OKX Institutional Clients Can Now Post BlackRock’s BUIDL as Margin Collateral

Under the framework, VIP and institutional clients on OKX Middle East can use the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund, known as BUIDL, as collateral for margin trading. BUIDL invests in cash, U.S. Treasury bills, and repurchase agreements, with yield distributed on-chain. The fund is tokenized by Securitize.

Standard Chartered holds the collateral in regulated off-exchange custody, segregated from OKX’s own assets. Clients can post BUIDL as collateral without moving it onto the exchange, reducing the need for asset transfers between platforms and lowering exposure to exchange-related risk. The companies said the initiative is the first such framework backed by a globally systemically important bank.

BUIDL Lets Traders Earn Yield and Post Collateral With the Same Asset

The framework is designed to address a longstanding capital efficiency problem in institutional crypto trading. Margin posted on exchanges typically sits idle. By allowing BUIDL to serve as collateral, the arrangement lets clients continue earning yield on their Treasury exposure while using the same assets to back trading positions.

Samara Cohen, global head of market development at BlackRock, tied the launch to the fund’s original design.

“BUIDL was designed to bring the benefits of tokenization to short-term treasury exposure, allowing qualified investors to earn US dollar yields on blockchain rail,” Cohen said. “The framework with OKX and Standard Chartered allows qualified investors to unlock new opportunities in how they deploy collateral.”

BUIDL can also be deposited and traded directly on the exchange, giving it dual functionality as both a yield-bearing holding and collateral within the OKX framework.

Standard Chartered Holds Collateral Segregated From OKX’s Balance Sheet

The custody structure is central to the pitch. Collateral held in BUIDL remains under Standard Chartered’s custody and is segregated from OKX’s balance sheet. That separation is designed to protect client assets in the event of exchange-level disruption, a concern that has driven institutional demand for off-exchange settlement since the collapse of FTX.

Margaret Harwood-Jones, global head of financing and securities services at Standard Chartered, said the bank’s role reflects its broader push into digital asset infrastructure.

 “Our role as custodian in this initiative reflects our commitment to delivering trusted and innovative solutions for clients as the financial ecosystem evolves,” Harwood-Jones said.

The framework joins a broader push toward off-exchange custody models that let institutions trade while keeping assets in regulated custody.

Tokenized Treasuries Move Closer to Core Trading Infrastructure

The launch puts tokenized real-world assets directly into trading workflows rather than holding them as standalone investment products. Haider Rafique, global managing partner at OKX, described the collaboration as a demonstration that tokenized assets can operate at scale within existing institutional infrastructure.

“This collaboration highlights the potential of tokenizing real-world assets at scale,” Rafique said.

The launch gives the market a live example of tokenized Treasuries being used as trading collateral alongside cash and crypto, rather than sitting in separate custody arrangements disconnected from trading activity.