OKX has added BlackRock’s BUIDL fund to its collateral framework with Standard Chartered, enabling eligible institutional and VIP clients to use a yield-bearing tokenized Treasury asset as trading margin while keeping it off-exchange in regulated bank custody.
The arrangement, announced on Tuesday, allows clients trading through OKX Middle East to either post BUIDL as collateral under Standard Chartered custody or deposit it directly onto the exchange. The companies describe it as the first off-exchange tokenized collateral framework backed by a globally systemically important bank (G-SIB)—a structure designed to resemble traditional market infrastructure rather than ordinary crypto exchange plumbing.
Yield-bearing collateral moves closer to daily trading use
Tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) have been an emerging theme over the past two years. OKX now demonstrates that these assets can be used inside actual trading systems, not merely held as passive onchain wrappers. BUIDL is not just a tokenized dollar placeholder—it is a yield-bearing Treasury product, tokenized by Securitize, backed by cash, U.S. Treasury bills and repurchase agreements, with yield distributed onchain.
OKX sharpens its institutional pitch
The framework builds on OKX’s earlier collateral mirroring program with Standard Chartered, launched last year during its European push. Standard Chartered acts as off-exchange custodian, holding client collateral separately from OKX’s assets, while OKX handles real-time margining and liquidation through its internal risk systems. The competitive angle is notable: other exchanges, including Binance, have also moved tokenized Treasury products such as BUIDL and Franklin Templeton’s BENJI into off-exchange collateral structures. OKX now aims to differentiate itself by combining a major asset manager, regulated bank custody and live exchange integration in one framework.
Three core functions
The model offers capital efficiency (BUIDL can be used as margin collateral while continuing to generate yield), broader RWA utility (BUIDL positioned as platform-wide collateral for institutional trading), and segregated custody (assets held by Standard Chartered, separate from OKX’s balance sheet). BUIDL is issued on a public blockchain and invests in cash, U.S. Treasury bills and repurchase agreements.
Quotes: Samara Cohen, Global Head of Market Development at BlackRock, stated: “By enabling institutions to deploy BUIDL as on-chain collateral on OKX’s global platform, we improve capital efficiency while demonstrating how traditional financial instruments can operate seamlessly in digital markets. Tokenization is about making existing markets faster, more transparent, and more accessible.”
Margaret Harwood-Jones, Global Head of Financing and Securities Services at Standard Chartered, added: “By providing secure custody of BUIDL for this collateral use case, we are helping to ensure clients can access digital asset opportunities with the high standards of protection and compliance.”
