BlackRock Does 180 Degree Macro Strategy Shift As It Launches Bitcoin Spot Private Trust
Oh how good this is — Larry Fink’s firm, BlackRock, has seen the light.
BlackRock is by many estimates the largest asset manager in the West, if not the world.
Earlier in the year, BlackRock and Fink took significant heat from crypto enthusiasts as some blockchain researchers asserted his firm’s large Bitcoin trades may have destabilized the market for BTC, and some related trades appear to have shattered some of the so-called “stablecoins” out there.
BlackRock, the world’s largest investment manager, is pivoting toward bitcoin private trust services due to what it perceives as increased interest from clients as of late.
Now, about a week after announcing a surprise partnership with crypto exchange Coinbase, BlackRock reportedly launches a spot Bitcoin private trust for their institutional clients.
The decision received mixed reactions on CNBC and elsewhere in the financial media, with the usual crypto skeptics tsk-tsking at Fink, while believers see it as a meaningful step forward.
We guess, ultimately, like so much in the financial community whether the decision receives long term praise or scorn will depend on how well the underlying asset — Bitcoin — does in the years ahead.
Bitcoin and its largest competitor Ethereum have seen a turbulent, but ultimately positive fate since the pandemic began — BTC up about 3x since late January 2020, while ETH is up approximately 12x.
A crypto regulation bill is working its way through the Senate at the moment, which some see as another positive development for the crypto industry, since it will increase confidence in the marketplace and would also offload some of the existing regulatory burden to the CFTC, which oversees commodities. Currently, the SEC oversees crypto regulation in the United States.
The bill has bipartisan “star” backing from Senators including Cory Booker and Cynthia Lummis.
BlackRock, the US Senate… who will catch crypto fever next, one wonders.
—FULCRUM Research