BlackRock, Fresh off Coinbase Tie-Up, Offers Direct Bitcoin Exposure

The institutional investor-focused spot bitcoin private trust will track the price of the cryptocurrency.Read MoreCoinDesk

One week after announcing a partnership with crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN), BlackRock (BLK), the world’s largest asset manager, has launched a spot bitcoin (BTC) private trust for U.S.-based institutional investors

The trust, BlackRock’s first to offer direct exposure to bitcoin, seeks to track the performance of the largest cryptocurrency by market value.

“Despite the steep downturn in the digital asset market, we are still seeing substantial interest from some institutional clients in how to efficiently and cost-effectively access these assets using our technology and product capabilities,” the BlackRock team said in a website post.

BlackRock said the firm has conducted work in four areas of digital assets and their ecosystems that could benefit the firm’s clients and broader capital markets: permissioned blockchains, stablecoins, crypto assets and tokenization.

In March, CEO Larry Fink said the firm was exploring ways to offer digital assets to its clients, confirming that institutional investors remained interested in the crypto industry even as the bear market emerged.

Last week, BlackRock and Coinbase announced that mutual institutional customers would have access to digital assets through BlackRock’s Aladdin portfolio management software, starting with bitcoin.

DISCLOSURE

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

The leader in news and information on cryptocurrency, digital assets and the future of money, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. As part of their compensation, certain CoinDesk employees, including editorial employees, may receive exposure to DCG equity in the form of stock appreciation rights, which vest over a multi-year period. CoinDesk journalists are not allowed to purchase stock outright in DCG.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *