Last week, the world’s largest investment manager BlackRock announced a collaboration with crypto exchange Coinbase to enhance institutional access to digital assets. The partnership gifted users of BlackRock Aladdin – its portfolio management software – custodial, brokerage, and crypto trading, among other services, once signed up on Coinbase.
BlackRock to offer exposure to Bitcoin through its first-ever BTC Trust
On Thursday, the asset manager introduced a new private spot Bitcoin Trust for its US-based institutional investors. Blackrock said that the Bitcoin private trust will track the performance of Bitcoin minus the costs and trust obligations. It added that there had been serious interest from certain institutional clients seeking to understand how they can quickly and affordably access these assets, notwithstanding the sharp decline in their market value.
Available to institutional clients, the Trust will enable banks to gain easy, safe exposure to Bitcoin, according to Digital Currency Group founder Barry Silbert. Moreover, being the world’s most dominant investment management firm, the move translates to a smoothened path for BlackRock’s clients to access the leading digital asset.
The asset manager said that it has been exploring the potential of digital assets and their ecosystems in permissioned blockchains, stablecoins, cryptoassets, and tokenization, priming them as likely advantageous to its clients and the equity capital markets in the future. Alongside the announcement of the Trust, Blackrock lauded efforts by Energy Web and RMI to enhance transparency and Trust in sustainable Bitcoin mining.
SkyBridge founder: “Larry Fink is finally seeing there is institutional demand”
In an interview with CNBC on Friday, SkyBridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci remarked that the BlackRock BTC Trust indicates significant interest in the leading cryptocurrency from institutional investors. Scaramucci pointed out that the involvement of BlackRock, a traditional investment house with more than $10 trillion in AUM, beckons the arrival of the crypto future sooner than expected.
He justified his argument by noting that the investment firm wouldn’t be dabbling in Bitcoin or partnering with Coinbase if it didn’t believe there was enough demand. The financier predicted that the Trust would result in a demand that will cause the asset price to rise. He also echoed Mark Cuban’s comments ‘buy the rumor and sell the news’ when asked about the market reaction to Ethereum’s merge.
He, however, warned against this strategy, advising that Bitcoin and Ethereum are ideal long-term investment assets. The two leading cryptocurrencies by market capital aren’t the only coins that he has shown interest though. The SkyBridge managing partner further revealed that his firm has a position in Solana and Algorand – the latter whose award-winning technology he praised.
Bitcoin is sound money for the 21st century, says Michael Saylor
Speaking to Stansberry Research’s Daniela Cambone on Friday, Bitcoin maximalist Michael Saylor projected that Bitcoin would ‘demonitize’ gold, which will see less adoption as money in the 21st century. In the interview, Saylor touched on several issues around Bitcoin, including his billion-dollar bet on the asset, his reason for stepping down as CEO, Bitcoin’s volatile nature, the market crash and cleansing, Tesla’s bitcoin selloff, and a spot Bitcoin ETF.
“I think Bitcoin is the only [ crypto] asset that is broadly institutionally held […] It is not nearly as broadly held as it will be [I think] we are still in the early days,” he remarked when asked about the mindset of institutional investors on Bitcoin.
The former MicroStrategy chief executive observed that the interest in the asset is nonetheless noticeable even by the average investor, judging by its increasing favorable reception by the macro and hedge fund community.
“You can see it in the body language of JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Jamie Damon […] the way that David Solomon, BlackRock, Ray Dalio and George speaks about it,” he said, “it [Bitcoin] now has the respect of more people.”
Saylor added that more clarity is needed from banking regulators as it will help banks know how much they can hold and the reserve ratio. He faulted the GAAP standard as a liability for large institutions looking to get into Bitcoin because it understates the value and creates confusion. He also gave his thoughts on other subjects beyond Bitcoin, including Ethereum, recession and expectations for the U.S. dollar.
To learn more visit our Investing in Bitcoin guide.
