The world’s largest fund manager, BlackRock, has announced its entry into the cryptocurrency market, which will partner with the Coinbase exchange to offer access to Bitcoin to institutional investors.
In particular, BlackRock’s top clients will be able to use its investment management system, Aladdin, to track their exposure to Bitcoin alongside other assets in their portfolio, such as stocks and bonds, and trade on Coinbase.
The focus of the partnership with Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency trading platform in the US, “will initially be on Bitcoin,” BlackRock said.
“Our institutional clients are increasingly interested in accessing digital asset markets and are focusing on how to effectively manage the lifecycle of these assets,” said Joseph Chalom, BlackRock’s head of strategic partnerships.
Institutional investors accounted for about three-quarters of the $309 billion in total trading volume on Coinbase in the first quarter, the exchange reported in May. Coinbase’s customers include hedge funds, corporate funds and asset managers.
“Partnering with BlackRock and Aladdin is an exciting milestone for our company,” said Brett Tejpaul, Head of Coinbase Institutional and Greg Tusar, Vice President of Institutional Products.
“We are committed to advancing the industry and creating new access points as institutional adoption of cryptocurrencies rapidly accelerates,” they add.
Coinbase stock is on a wild rally of over 15% in the wake of the deal announcement.
It is worth noting that the announcement of the partnership comes at a time when Coinbase is facing an investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission over whether it allowed Americans to trade digital assets that should have been registered as securities.
Source: Capital
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