BlackRock is prepared to plunge its considerably huge fingers into the world of cryptoassets, according to public records and reports from various media outlets.
The giant money manager headed by Larry Fink has filed an order to offer his clients exposure to BTC.1 bitcoin futures,
through funds, BlackRock Strategic Income Opportunities BSIIX,
and BlackRock Global Allocation Fund Inc. MALOX,
part of the BlackRock Funds V series, according to the paperwork submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The document states that certain funds can buy bitcoin-based futures and describes its focus on the nascent industry as “cash-settled bitcoin futures traded on commodity exchanges” registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Interest in bitcoin futures for the money manager who manages about $ 8.7 trillion comes at a time when bitcoin prices are registering upward parabolic movements, with a contraction in recent days highlighting the volatility inherent in the virtual asset that emerged just over a decade ago.
Despite the recent setback, bitcoin prices BTCUSD,
at CoinDesk soared 21% so far in January, after a scorching run in 2020.
Bitcoin futures linked to the blockchain asset are also on the rise, with values of almost 19% so far this month and 192% higher in the past three months, according to FactSet data that tracks the most active contract traded at CME Group CME ,
BlackRock’s latest moves came after Fink in December said that bitcoin, which has gained momentum among institutional investors in the past 12 months, “has caught the attention and imagination of many people.”
Fink said that the asset backed by distributed ledgers could eventually evolve “into a global market”, but described his current state as just a child.
Another BlackRock chief, Rick Rieder, director of global fixed income investments and head of the global allocation team, described himself last month as maintaining a relatively sober view of the popular virtual asset that some bulls say is challenging GC00 gold,
as an alternative investment, but said he believes the crypts are “here to stay”.
It should come as no surprise, perhaps, that BlackRock delves into bitcoin as an investment. In 2018, the money manager assembled a team to explore potential investments in digital currencies and blockchain, the underlying technology that drives cryptocurrencies, the Financial Times reported.
At that time, Fink was less optimistic about bitcoin, saying in 2018 during an interview with Bloomberg TV that he doubted there was much customer enthusiasm for bitcoins and the like. “I don’t believe that any customers have sought exposure to cryptography,” said Fink.
A lot has changed and institutional interest in bitcoin has often been credited with helping to lead a new race in values for the world’s most popular cryptography and alternatives to bitcoin, like ETHUSD ether,
in the ethereum and Litecoins LTCUSD block chain,
a spinoff of the original bitcoin that was written in code in 2009 by a person or persons known as Satoshi Nakamoto.
Bitcoin futures are even more recent than the underlying asset to which it gives investors exposure.
Cboe Global Markets Inc. CBOE,
launched its bitcoin futures contract, trading with the XBT symbol on December 17, 2017, during the initial fervor for all cryptographic things that ended with bitcoin causing a price close to $ 20,000 before dropping to a low around $ 3,000.
Rival CME started its bitcoin futures contracts about a week after Cboe, but two years later the Cboe Futures Exchange unceremoniously interrupted its future bitcoin experiment, noting a lukewarm interest in its contracts and low volumes.