HBAR token surges 90% amid confusion over BlackRock’s involvement

By Matt Brienen

Published: 2024-04-24T21:20:00+00:00

HBAR, the native token of the Hedera blockchain, surged by 90% following a widely misinterpreted announcement from the HBAR Foundation, which caused confusion among crypto influencers.

A BlackRock money market fund was tokenized on the Hedera blockchain, causing the Hedera token to surge 94% in value within the last 24 hours. However, contrary to popular belief, the largest asset manager in the world was not involved in the on-chain movement.

A widely misinterpreted April 23 HBAR Foundation X post — the group behind the Hedera network — stated that blockchain trading and infrastructure firms Archax and Ownera tokenized BlackRock’s ICS US Treasury Fund on its platform.

The video accompanying the announcement appeared to suggest that Ownera, Archax, and BlackRock were collaborating on the endeavor, and HBAR claimed to be “bringing the world’s largest asset manager on-chain.”

Several crypto influencers with substantial X followings misinterpreted a post — which garnered over 1.6 million views and 2,700 reposts in just 15 hours — leading them to mistakenly believe that BlackRock was involved in moving its $22.3 billion fund to the blockchain or had formed a partnership with Archax and Ownera.

Archax, a London-based digital asset exchange, broker, and custodian collaborated with the HBAR Foundation and Ownera, an institutional-grade digital asset platform, to bring the MMF to Hedera.

It follows abrdn plc, the largest active wealth manager in the UK and a major member of the Hedera Council, tokenizing its MMFs on Hedera in 2023. Its flagship tokenized funds marked a watershed moment in the asset management sector.