Moody’s Assigns Aaa-mf Top Rating To Fidelity And BlackRock Tokenized Money Market Funds

Moody’s assigned its highest money market fund assessment, Aaa-mf, to tokenized funds from Fidelity International and BlackRock, including Fidelity’s Fidelity USD Digital Liquidity Fund (FILQ) and BlackRock’s USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL).

“has assigned its highest AAA-mf rating to tokenized money market products”

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The Fidelity USD Digital Liquidity Fund (FILQ) went live on May 6 and was built on a tokenization platform developed by Sygnum, while BlackRock’s BUIDL first launched on Ethereum in March 2024.

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Moody’s said the Aaa-mf designation reflects a very strong ability to meet capital preservation and liquidity objectives, and it is specifically for money market funds that assess the ability to preserve capital and maintain liquidity.

The tokenized U.S. government debt market expanded from about $1 billion in total assets under management two years ago to above $15 billion today, according to the figures cited in the reporting.

Fidelity’s FILQ is described as an Ethereum-based tokenized liquidity fund for institutional investors, with the tokenized units initially recorded on the Ethereum public blockchain and plans to migrate to Zksync.

Moody’s said the fund’s weighted average maturity will stay below 60 days, with at least 10% of assets maturing daily and 30% weekly, and it is designed for near-instant liquidity with 24/7 redemptions subject to available liquidity.

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Fidelity’s Emma Pecenicic, head of digital asset distribution at Fidelity International, framed the product around settlement speed, saying, "There is no tokenized finance without tokenized liquidity."

On the infrastructure side, the reporting ties FILQ to Sygnum’s Desygnate platform and Chainlink’s role in publishing fund net asset value and distribution data onchain, while JPMorgan Chase handles custody and fund administration and Apex Group manages transfer agency duties.

The rating milestone is being positioned as a credibility boost for institutional investors, with one report noting that high ratings for tokenized funds boost credibility among institutional investors and mark a milestone for digital asset adoption.

“boost credibility among institutional investors”

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BlackRock’s BUIDL is described as the world’s largest tokenized Treasury fund, accounting for about 15% of the tokenized U.S. Treasury market, and it received its AAA-mf rating via an announcement from Securitize, the platform handling its tokenization and transfer agency work.

The reporting also ties the broader tokenized-cash push to onchain settlement and liquidity access, with The Block saying FILQ is modeled off Fidelity’s existing low-volatility net asset value (LVNAV) fund and is designed for 24/7 access.

In parallel, Chainlink’s role in the FILQ launch is described through verifiable, real-time NAV and distribution metrics, with Chainlink Labs president Fernando Vazquez saying, "By adopting Chainlink’s industry-standard platform to deliver verifiable, real-time NAV and distribution metrics, FILQ utilizes the tamper-proof transparency required".