Original | Odaily Planet Daily ( @OdailyChina )
Author | Dingdang ( @XiaMiPP )
On March 18, Securitize and Ethena, which have been working closely with BlackRocks money market fund BUIDL, announced that they would jointly launch the EVM-compatible blockchain Converge, with the goal of providing an efficient and compliant infrastructure for tokenized assets and institutional-level DeFi ecosystems.
Does it sound like a sudden big move? In fact, all this was foreshadowed as early as September 2024. At that time, Securitize and Ethena quietly started their first official cooperation to jointly develop the stablecoin USDtb (pegged to the US dollar at a 1:1 ratio).
Now, the two companies have joined hands again to announce the launch of Converge, an EVM-compatible institutional-grade DeFi blockchain, which is scheduled to be officially launched in the second quarter of this year. This series of actions makes people wonder: From a stablecoin to a new public chain, how did the cooperation between Securitize and Ethena evolve? What possibilities will this partnership bring to the financial market?
USDtb: Starting point and testing ground for cooperation
Although USDtb is also a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar, its design and asset reserves have their own distinctive characteristics.
Of USDtbs reserves, 90% is invested in BlackRocks USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL), a tokenized money market fund based on the Ethereum blockchain that mainly holds low-risk assets such as cash, U.S. short-term Treasury bonds and repurchase agreements; the remaining 10% is supported by other stablecoins (such as USDC) to ensure liquidity is maintained when traditional markets are closed.
As part of the Ethena ecosystem, USDtb complements its flagship product USDe (a synthetic dollar pegged through crypto assets and derivatives hedging), and can serve as a stable backing for USDe, especially when the market is volatile or the financing rate is negative.
On December 17, 2024, USDtb was officially launched, and the locked value on the first day exceeded 64.5 million US dollars, and the market heat exceeded expectations. José Maria Macedo, one of the founders of blockchain research and development company Delphi Labs, predicted that USDtb will become the largest tokenized treasury product within a month of its launch. Seraphim Czecker, head of growth at Ethena, said that USDtb has the potential to expand to 100 billion US dollars. Exaggerated? Maybe. But according to the data disclosed on the usdtb.money official website, the current supply of USDtb has reached 792 million US dollars, showing the markets initial recognition of its potential. More importantly, from the evolution of the cooperation from USDtb to Converge, this is not just a simple stablecoin attempt, but a well-thought-out strategic layout of the two companies.
Securitize plays a key role in the USDtb project. As BUIDLs tokenization service provider, it is not only responsible for the issuance process of USDtb, but also ensures compliance with its registration with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Smart contracts are audited by multiple parties, and custody is supported by institutional-level service providers such as Copper and Zodia Custody. This division of labor reflects the combination of the advantages of both parties: Securitize brings a bridge to traditional finance, while Ethena injects the flexibility and innovation of DeFi. The launch of USDtb is not only a test field for the cooperation between the two parties, but also foreshadows the subsequent more ambitious plans.
The cornerstone of Securitize: BUIDL and multi-chain layout
To understand Securitizes role in this collaboration, we must trace its origins with BlackRock. In March 2024, Securitize partnered with BlackRock, the worlds largest asset management company, to introduce the BUIDL fund to the Ethereum blockchain. This fund has grown rapidly since its launch, and as of March 2025, its size has exceeded US$1 billion, becoming a benchmark project in the field of tokenized assets. The success of BUIDL not only earned Securitize a reputation, but also provided USDtb with a solid asset base, making it stand out in the stablecoin market.
Securitize’s strength goes far beyond this. Since its founding in 2017, the company has tokenized more than $2 billion in assets, covering private equity, real estate, credit funds and other fields. Its multi-chain strategy further enhances its influence. In addition to Ethereum, Securitize has also issued ParaFi Capital’s venture fund tokens and Spain’s Mancipi SA’s real estate investment trust on Avalanche; it has also deployed a variety of tokenization projects on Solana and Polygon. This cross-chain layout not only reduces transaction costs and improves efficiency, but also demonstrates Securitize’s adaptability to different blockchain ecosystems.
In terms of financing, Securitize has also achieved impressive results. As of 2025, it has raised more than $140 million through multiple rounds of financing, with investors including BlackRock, Morgan Stanley, Blockchain Capital and other heavyweight institutions. These resources provide guarantees for Securitizes technology development and market expansion, and also lay a solid economic foundation for its cooperation with Ethena.
Converge: A new chapter in blockchain created by collaboration
If USDtb is the starting point of the cooperation between Securitize and Ethena, then Converge is an important evolution of this partnership. On March 18, the two parties jointly announced the launch of Converge, an EVM-compatible L1 blockchain, which is scheduled to be launched in the second quarter of this year . Its goal is clear: to provide high-performance, compliance-friendly infrastructure for tokenized assets and institutional-level DeFi. Converges design combines the core capabilities of the two companies, continuing the successful experience of USDtb while trying to solve many pain points of existing public chains.
One of the features of Converge is its native asset design. Ethenas stablecoins USDtb and USDe will be directly embedded in the economic model as the networks gas tokens. This design not only enhances the practicality of stablecoins, but also provides a stable transaction foundation for the network.
The division of labor between the two parties is more clearly reflected in Converge. Securitize is responsible for the issuance and management of tokenized assets, continuing its role in BUIDL and USDtb, while providing compliance support such as KYC/AML verification and regulatory reporting. Ethena brings its experience in the DeFi ecosystem. Specifically, through the form of sENA, ENA holders can lock their tokens in the Converge network in exchange for rewards (which may be transaction fee sharing or staking income), thereby enhancing the practicality and value of the tokens. This design directly introduces Ethenas existing user base and approximately $6 billion in assets under management into Converge, accelerating the ecological construction of the new chain.
The initial list of partners is also quite impressive, including DeFi projects such as Pendle, Avara (Aaves parent company), Morpho, and oracle service providers such as RedStone and Pyth Network, showing Converges ambition in ecosystem building.
Why build your own chain? This may be a profound reflection on the limitations of existing blockchains. Although Ethereum has a mature ecosystem, its transaction costs are high and its speed is limited; although Avalanche and Solana have excellent performance, they are not designed for tokenized assets or institutional needs. The emergence of Converge may be an attempt by Securitize and Ethena to build a customized platform - a platform that can meet the privacy and compliance requirements of institutions while providing openness and flexibility for DeFi users.
Cooperation prospects and strategic layout considerations
The cooperation between Securitize and Ethena, from USDtb to Converge, shows a gradual but ambitious strategic layout. The traditional securities market is as large as 300 trillion US dollars, while the locked value of DeFi is only about 100 billion US dollars. The huge gap between the two is exactly the space that this cooperation is trying to fill. If Converge can successfully go online and attract enough ecological participants, it may become an important hub connecting traditional finance and DeFi.
However, where exactly is this strategic layout pointing to? We can think deeply about this from several dimensions.
First, does the launch of Converge mean that Securitize wants to transform from a service provider to an infrastructure controller? By controlling the underlying blockchain, it can customize performance, compliance, and asset management tools to directly meet the needs of large customers such as BlackRock, while reducing dependence on third-party public chains. This independence may be the key to its long-term competitiveness, but it also comes with high development and promotion costs.
Secondly, does Ethenas role in the collaboration foreshadow a new direction for DeFi? USDtb and USDes dual stablecoin strategy, as well as Ethenas experience in derivatives and yield assets, may inject a unique economic model into Converge. Whether this model can attract more DeFi projects to migrate to the new chain and form a self-sufficient ecosystem still needs time to verify.
Furthermore, is the cooperation between the two parties paving the way for a larger-scale integration of TradFi to DeFi? As a common link, BlackRocks support for BUIDL and USDtb may just be the beginning. In the future, Converge may become a testing ground for more traditional financial institutions to test blockchain, but this also brings regulatory complexity. Attitudes towards blockchain and tokenized assets vary around the world, and how to find a balance between compliance and innovation will be a topic that both parties must face.
Of course, challenges are everywhere. Emerging public chains such as Aptos and Sui are also competing for the market, and Converge must prove its unique value. In addition, ecological construction takes time and resources, and whether Securitize and Ethena can coordinate their respective priorities and jointly promote this vision remains an unknown.
