BlackRock, the largest asset manager in the world, has launched a spot Bitcoin private trust for its US-based institutional clients. The firm is seeing substantial interest from some institutional clients in how to effectively and cost-effectively access these assets using technology and product capabilities.
However, Bitcoin is still more than 60% below its all-time high of almost $69,000 in November 2021. But many investors believe it has found a bottom with stocks. The two asset classes are being more correlated to each other this year than ever before. BlackRock described Bitcoin as the oldest, largest, and most liquid crypto asset. The company says its currently the primary subject of interest from its clients within the crypto asset space.
Larry Fink, BlackRock CEO, had earlier said that this year clients had been showing increasing interest in digital currencies, including stablecoins and the underlying technologies (blockchain). The company shared the work of energy nonprofits RMI and EnergyWeb for their work to bring greater transparency to sustainable energy usage in Bitcoin mining. BlackRock will follow progress around these initiatives.
Moreover, BlackRock has been looking at areas with the potential to benefit its clients and capital markets more broadly. This includes permissioned blockchains, crypto assets, stablecoins, and tokenization. BlackRock had recently announced a partnership with Coinbase for its institutional clients to buy crypto.
