BlackRock's BUIDL Shrank 35% in 90 Days. A Holder of a Quarter of the Fund Left Entirely.
BUIDL, BlackRock's tokenized Treasury fund, is the asset most often cited as proof that institutions are moving onchain. Between August 9 and November 7 it fell from US$2.71 billion to US$1.76 billion. US$716.6 million of the fall was one holder, Grove, the Sky ecosystem's capital allocator, which held 26.5% of the fund in August and holds none of it now.
- BlackRock's BUIDL fell 35.1% in 90 days, from US$2.71 billion on August 9 to US$1.76 billion on November 7, 2026. see data →
- Sky's allocator Grove held 26.5% of BUIDL on August 9 and none on November 8, 2026; its exit equals 75.5% of the fund's net decline.
- Without Grove, BUIDL fell 11.7% over the same period, as gains on BNB Chain and Aptos offset part of the declines on Ethereum, Avalanche and Solana.
- Grove also exited Janus Henderson's JTRSY, and its net borrowing from Sky fell US$1.18 billion between August 9 and November 8, 2026. see data →
Figures are as of the publication date. Current figures are on the record.
BUIDL, BlackRock's tokenized Treasury fund, lost 35.1% of its supply in 90 days, falling from US$2.71 billion on August 9 to US$1.76 billion on November 7. One holder, Grove, which held a quarter of the fund in August, left it entirely; its exit equals 75.5% of the net decline.
One allocator held a quarter of BlackRock's tokenized fund
Grove is the capital allocator of the Sky stablecoin protocol, formerly MakerDAO. It invests the protocol's funds in tokenized credit and Treasury products, and Sky's governance rulebook lists the Ethereum contract it holds them through, its ALM Proxy. On August 9 that contract held 716.63 million shares of BUIDL-I, the fund's I share class, out of 964.40 million in issue. Across all eight chains BUIDL has US$1.00 shares, so Grove alone was 26.5% of the fund.
Between August 9 and November 7, Grove sent 719.74 million BUIDL-I shares in 24 transfers to the address from which BUIDL-I is burned. The shares were its own: since September 2025 every BUIDL-I share the contract received was minted to it, and its earlier shares came from Spark, another Sky allocator, not from the market. On November 8 it held none. BUIDL-I fell to 144.04 million shares, and BUIDL on Ethereum, both classes together, fell from US$1,189.3 million to US$316.7 million. BUIDL more than halved on Ethereum in September; Grove redeemed US$500.0 million of that month's US$520.1 million fall.
Fig 1 — Who held BUIDL · Aug 9 and Nov 7, 2026
BUIDL supply by holder, all chains
Grove's US$716.6M slice of BUIDL on Aug 9 was gone by Nov 7; all other holders fell from US$1,991.6M to US$1,758.4M.
Without Grove, BUIDL fell 11.7% and moved across chains
The rest of the fund shrank less and shifted between networks. Holders other than Grove held US$1,991.6 million on August 9 and US$1,758.4 million on November 7. BUIDL on BNB Chain rose from US$110.8 million to US$277.4 million and on Aptos from US$16.2 million to US$157.4 million. On Avalanche it fell from US$631.3 million to US$416.7 million, continuing a decline from July that Crypto Briefing, citing research, attributed partly to redemptions, and on Solana from US$712.2 million to US$540.6 million. The fund was larger in between: it reached US$2,815.2 million on September 5, while Grove's redemptions were under way.
Grove left Janus Henderson's Treasury fund too, and most of the cash went back to Sky
Over the same period Grove redeemed all 769.83 million of its JTRSY shares, 98.2% of Janus Henderson's tokenized Treasury fund on Ethereum. JTRSY on Ethereum fell from 783.77 million shares to 42.08 million, and its versions on other chains did not absorb the difference: they hold fewer than 10 million shares between them.
Most of the redemption cash went back to Sky. Grove's ALM Proxy received US$719.4 million of USDC from one address, matching its BUIDL redemptions, and US$835.4 million from the JTRSY fund's escrow. It converted US$2,006.4 million of USDC through Sky's LitePSM into USDS and sent it to its Sky allocator buffer, which returned US$674.0 million. The debt of Grove's ALLOCATOR-BLOOM-A vault, the Sky credit line behind Grove's general allocation activity, fell from US$2,798.2 million on August 9 to US$1,491.9 million on November 8. Grove's second vault, ALLOCATOR-GROVE-A, grew by US$129.0 million, so its net borrowing from Sky fell by US$1,177.3 million, against US$1,554.7 million of redemption proceeds. Cash is interchangeable inside Grove, so the rest cannot be traced dollar for dollar; Grove also sent USDC to other destinations in the period, including US$313.0 million through Circle's cross-chain transfer protocol.
Grove did not leave tokenized credit. Its own figures for the third quarter, published by Alea Research, show its allocations falling from US$2.66 billion to US$1.82 billion as its BUIDL and JTRSY positions shrank, while its holding in a fund of AAA-rated CLOs was about flat, at US$389.5 million and then US$393.7 million, and a Galaxy warehouse facility and Morpho vaults grew. Neither Sky nor Grove has said why it left the Treasury funds. The pattern is a smaller balance sheet that kept its credit exposure and cut its T-bills.
Why it matters
BUIDL's size has been read as a measure of institutional adoption. On August 9 a quarter of it was one allocator funded by a stablecoin protocol's balance sheet, and when that allocator redeemed, the fund lost that quarter. The holders that remain are less concentrated on Ethereum, with BNB Chain and Aptos adding US$307.8 million between them while BUIDL on Ethereum fell 73.4%.
The episode also shows where part of tokenized Treasury demand comes from. Grove's position in BUIDL was funded by borrowing from Sky, so its size depended on Sky's allocation decisions as well as on BlackRock's fund. The open question is whether BUIDL can replace a single protocol's capital with a broader base of holders, or whether its size will keep tracking the decisions of a few onchain balance sheets.
US$2,708.2M on Aug 9 and US$1,758.4M on Nov 7, 2026. Per chain, Aug 9 → Nov 7: Ethereum 1,189.3 → 316.7; Solana 712.2 → 540.6; Avalanche 631.3 → 416.7; BNB Chain 110.8 → 277.4; OP Mainnet 26.3 → 26.6; Aptos 16.2 → 157.4; Polygon 13.5 → 10.5; Arbitrum 8.5 → 12.6 (US$M, US$1.00 shares).
OnChain Benchmark · BUIDLAt block 25,713,690 (Aug 9 00:00 UTC): BUIDL-I (0x6a9d…9041) totalSupply 964.40M, Grove ALM Proxy (0x491E…3A44E) 716.63M; BUIDL (0x7712…2AEc) 224.91M. At block 26,366,424 (Nov 8 00:00 UTC): BUIDL-I 144.04M, Grove 0; BUIDL 172.64M. Grove sent 719.74M BUIDL-I in 24 transfers to 0x8780…4200, from which BUIDL-I is burned, Aug 9 to Nov 7.
Etherscan · Grove ALM ProxySky's Atlas lists 0x491EDFB0B8b608044e227225C715981a30F3A44E as Grove's ALM Proxy (Mainnet) contract, and names ALLOCATOR-BLOOM-A (buffer 0x629a…b1Cd, vault 0x2651…5d43) and ALLOCATOR-GROVE-A as Grove's two allocator vaults.
Sky Atlas · A.6.1.1.2 GroveJTRSY (0x8c21…4b86) on Ethereum: totalSupply 783.77M at block 25,713,690, Grove 769.83M; 42.08M and Grove 0 at block 26,366,424. Current totalSupply on Base 4.47M, Monad 4.08M, Avalanche 0, Plume about 0.5M.
OnChain Benchmark · JTRSYAug 9 to Nov 8: Grove received USDC 719.4M from 0xcfc0…ab33 and 835.4M from JTRSY PoolEscrow 0x0665…4be3; sent USDC 2,006.4M to Sky LitePSM USDC A, converted DAI to USDS via DaiUsds, and sent 2,006.4M USDS to ALLOCATOR_BLOOM_A_BUFFER (674.0M returned). Debt in Sky's Vat at blocks 25,713,690 and 26,366,424: ALLOCATOR-BLOOM-A 2,798.2M to 1,491.9M; ALLOCATOR-GROVE-A 1.0M to 130.0M (net −1,177.3M, including stability fees accrued). Grove also sent USDC 313.0M to Circle's CCTP TokenMinter in the period.
Sky chainlogAlea Research (Oct 29, 2026), from Grove's own data: allocations US$2.66B to US$1.82B; BUIDL 714.0M to 119.3M; JTRSY 853.0M to 309.5M; JAAA 389.5M to 393.7M; Galaxy warehouse facility 0 to 377.1M; Morpho vaults 205.7M to 334.1M.
Alea Research · Centrifuge fees per dollarNo reason for Grove's exit is claimed; no statement from Sky, Grove, BlackRock or Janus Henderson was found. The party behind 0xcfc0…ab33 is not identified beyond paying the USDC. Holders other than Grove are not attributed. No claim is made about tokenized Treasury funds as a whole.
OnChain Benchmark methodology- How much did BlackRock's BUIDL shrink between August and November 2026?
- Across its eight chains BUIDL fell from US$2,708.2 million on August 9 to US$1,758.4 million on November 7, 2026, down US$949.8 million or 35.1%.
- Who redeemed BUIDL?
- The largest redeemer was Grove, the Sky ecosystem's capital allocator. Its ALM Proxy held 716.63 million BUIDL-I shares on August 9, 26.5% of the fund, and none on November 8. That accounts for 75.5% of the decline.
- Where did the money go?
- Most of it went back to Sky. Grove converted US$2,006.4 million of USDC into USDS through Sky's LitePSM and sent it to its Sky allocator buffer. Its net borrowing from Sky fell US$1,177.3 million between August 9 and November 8, against US$1,554.7 million of redemption proceeds.
- Did the rest of BUIDL shrink too?
- Yes, by less. Excluding Grove, BUIDL fell 11.7%, from US$1,991.6 million to US$1,758.4 million, with growth on BNB Chain and Aptos offset by declines on Avalanche and Solana.