Archax CEO Clarifies BlackRock Role in Hedera Tokenization

Graham Rodford, CEO and Co-Founder of Archax, has spoken on the X platform to provide clarity on BlackRock and the tokenization of funds on the Hedera blockchain. In the course of the price spike of Hedera’s (HBAR) token that followed the announcement of tokenization of the ICS US Treasury Fund by BlackRock, doubts arose regarding the extent of this company’s involvement in the initiative.

(17/18) If we decide to tokenise, arguably we do not need to approach the investment manager, but we always do as we want long term relationships. The investment manager’s level of involvement can vary but both abrdn and Blackrock were aware that we were tokenising on Hedera.

— Graham (@Grodfather) April 24, 2024

Hedera (HBAR) Price Trend

The information came from the first HBAR Foundation X post, which mentioned that Archax and Ownera had tokenized the BlackRock fund on the Hedera network. However, the post was perceived wrongly by the people from the crypto community, and it was thought that BlackRock would be part of the tokenization process.

BlackRock’s involvement was misinterpreted by the market, and that led to an enthusiastic market response, with Hedera’s HBAR token increasing in value by 100% in just one day. The price action was based on the idea of a direct cooperation between the largest asset manager in the world – BlackRock, and the Hedera blockchain.

However, when additional information clarified the fact that BlackRock was only ‘aware,’ rather than actively participating, the initial excitement began to wane. As of press time, the bearish wave had seized the HBAR market, with the price 22% down from the intraday high of $0.1776 and trading at $0.125.

Archax’s Role and Decision

With regard to the misunderstanding, Graham Rodford clarified that the fund has been tokenized on the Hedera blockchain by Archax, rather than BlackRock. Despite BlackRock being aware of the initiative, however, it did not actively participate in the tokenization attempt. 

Rodford observed that Archax had tokenized the fund as a part of its program of issuance of tokenized fund shares, and in this case they would use the Hedera blockchain for such a share offering.

Even though the investment manager was not required to be informed about tokenization, Archax decided to do so as it believes in transparency and wants to develop long-term relationships. Rodford emphasized the necessity to keep the communication open with the investment managers and provide clarity about the tokenization initiatives. In informing the investment manager ahead of time, Archax hoped to promote openness and trust in the sector.

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