BlackRock strategies power three new Ondo portfolio tokens

Ondo Finance has launched three onchain portfolio tokens based on investment strategies developed by BlackRock, giving eligible investors outside the United States access to each portfolio through a single token. Three portfolios offer high-income, diversified-growth, and high-growth strategies developed by BlackRock for Ondo. Ondo says the tokens provide economic exposure to their underlying baskets and can be transferred between wallets. The products are initially available to eligible investors outside the United States. ONDO traded near $0.497 on CoinGecko, up about 18% over 24 hours at the time checked. Ondo Finance announced the launch on Sep. 24, naming the products Ondo Intelligent Portfolios. BlackRock developed the three opening strategies for Ondo, while Ondo Global Markets issues the portfolio tokens. Each token gives its holder economic exposure to a basket of underlying assets, according to the companies’ launch statement. BlackRock strategies cover three investment approaches Ondo lists BLKHIon as its high-income portfolio, BLKDIGon as its diversified-growth portfolio and BLKGRWon as its high-growth portfolio. The company says each has assets and target weights set at launch, with rebalancing scheduled at fixed intervals. Investors can inspect the portfolios’ holdings, weights, and rebalances onchain. The income strategy gives investors a way to hold a basket focused on bonds through one token. The two growth strategies use different allocations for investors seeking exposure across multiple assets, according to Ondo’s product descriptions. The portfolios can include exposure tied to stocks, bonds, and Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, depending on the strategy. A buyer receives the Ondo portfolio token rather than direct ownership of every security whose value the basket tracks. Ondo says the tokens can move between supported wallets and be used in decentralized finance applications. Although transfers can take place around the clock, investors should distinguish the ability to trade a portfolio token from the trading hours of the U.S.-listed securities whose prices feed into it. Lisa O’Connor, BlackRock’s global head of Model Portfolio Solutions and co-chief investment officer for Global Solutions, described the arrangement as a new way to deliver established portfolio strategies through digital infrastructure. BlackRock developed the strategies for Ondo’s products; Ondo issues the tokens and operates the onchain offering. The supplied report describes seven model portfolios in Ondo’s rollout, including BlackRock’s three. Ondo’s Sep. 24 announcement specifically identifies the three BlackRock-based portfolios as the first to launch and says it intends to add more portfolios over time. U.S. investors cannot access the opening portfolios For American investors, the immediate distinction is access. Ondo says its new portfolio products are for eligible non-U.S. investors in permitted jurisdictions. Its launch materials describe economic exposure through tokens, while eligibility and local restrictions determine who can buy them. The restriction is consistent with Ondo’s existing stock-token distribution. In coverage of Ondo’s NEAR launch, crypto.news reported on Sep. 22 that U.S. persons could not access Ondo Stocks under its current product terms, even though the tokens track U.S.-listed companies and ETFs. The NEAR integration initially made 20 tokenized assets available to eligible users, including products linked to Tesla, Nvidia, Apple and the Invesco QQQ Trust. Ondo has also been developing a separate route for U.S. securities activity through Oasis Pro Markets, its registered broker-dealer and alternative trading system. The availability of that U.S. infrastructure does not change the stated non-U.S. eligibility for the newly announced portfolio tokens. Ondo builds on stock tokens and BlackRock fund launches The portfolio product follows several moves involving the underlying assets and the systems used to tokenize them. On Sep. 21, Ondo and Alpaca introduced an arrangement under which approved institutions can contribute existing stocks or ETFs and receive corresponding Ondo Stocks tokens. As reported in the conversion coverage, the service operates on Ethereum and BNB Chain, requires accounts with both firms, and grants access case by case. A portfolio token serves a different purpose: it gives exposure to a basket rather than a single referenced stock or ETF. Ondo says holders can see the basket’s constituents and weights onchain. Its existing stock products provide some of the individual tokenized assets that can be assembled into portfolios. BlackRock added tokenized money market products in August. One placed tokenized shares of an existing Treasury-based liquidity fund on Ethereum; another was designed for institutional stablecoin reserve management. In reporting on BlackRock’s European rollout, the outlet also covered tokenized share classes for institutional cash funds introduced with JPMorgan’s Kinexys platform. Those fund-share products have a different structure from the new Ondo portfolio tokens, which Ondo issues to provide economic exposure to baskets based on BlackRock’s strategies. ONDO price rises as the company faces a control dispute At the time checked, CoinGecko priced ONDO at about $0.497, up approximately 18% over 24 hours and 34% over seven days. The token’s 24-hour range ran from about $0.406 to $0.511. The price move coincided with the portfolio announcement and other recent Ondo developments; the market data alone does not establish which event drove the gain. Meanwhile, Ondo remains involved in a dispute over its leadership and ownership following founder Nathan Allman’s death in May. Ondo confirmed his death in a June statement, when Ian De Bode said he was taking over as CEO. CoinDesk reported in September that Allman’s mother, other family members and an early investor were involved in court proceedings concerning the estate and control of the company. The competing claims remain allegations in the reported filings.