- Larry Fink said 5 years ago that BlackRock customers are not interested in cryptocurrencies
- As early as June 2023, BlackRock filed an application to register a spot Bitcoin ETF
In July 2018, the CEO of the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock Inc. reportedthat the fund’s clients show no interest in cryptocurrencies. When asked if he felt it was necessary to be ready for the day they wanted to invest in cryptocurrencies, Fink replied, “At the moment, no.”
Almost 5 years have passed since then. And it seems that Larry Fink has changed his position dramatically. On June 15, iShares, a division of the BlackRock Fund, filed an application to register a spot bitcoin ETF. The exchange product was developed in collaboration with Coinbase.
This announcement was unexpected, and there were two reasons for this. First, the regulatory climate in the United States is not entirely benign. It is also worth noting that the proposed fund is a Bitcoin ETF, which is a structure that the US Securities and Exchange Commission has previously rejected.
In addition to BlackRock, several other companies, namely Bitwise, WisdomTree and Valkyrie, have applied for Bitcoin ETFs. The cryptocurrency market reacted to such news with growth. Bitcoin crossed the $30,000 mark for the first time in two months.
BlackRock’s filing also has positive implications for Grayscale Investments LLC. In the days following that, the significant difference between the value of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) assets per underlying assets of $18.8 billion decreased, effectively indicating that the possibility of transforming the Grayscale fund into an ETF is becoming more likely.
According to Bloomberg Intelligence, the SEC has a maximum of 240 days to decide on BlackRock’s filing.