BlackRock plans to launch crypto trading services
20 people are reportedly evaluating cryptos for the world’s largest asset management firm
BlackRock is purportedly planning to offer a crypto trading service to its investor clients.
News about the largest asset manager in the world came from numerous outlets, referring to three people who have knowledge of the alleged arrangements.
BlackRock is said to be planning to offer “client support trading and then with their own credit facility”. This means investors would be able to borrow from BlackRock by providing cryptos as collateral.
The company will also reportedly allow public pension organisations, endowments and sovereign wealth funds to have the option to trade cryptos through its integrated investment management platform Aladdin (Asset, Liability, Debt and Derivative Investment Network).
One of the people party to the plans said BlackRock was “looking to get hands-on with outright crypto” and “looking at providers in the space”.
Additionally, there is said to be a group of “20 or so” inside BlackRock set to evaluate crypto so the company can “see all the flow that everyone else is getting” and also “start making some money from this”.
BlackRock and its crypto past
BlackRock has not been averse in the past to experimenting with cryptos and bitcoin (BTC). A Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) BTC futures filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) showed that the BlackRock Global Allocation fund held 37 units of CME’s March 2021 BTC futures for a period.
The New York-based company, which has seen its assets under management (AUM) increase to over $10trn (£7.3trn), also holds a 16.3% stake in MicroStrategy, a company that provides business intelligence, mobile software and cloud-based services that is run by Michael Saylor, a BTC bull.
The asset manager has also announced it is planning to launch the iShares Blockchain and Tech exchange-traded fund (ETF).
Co-founder of Three Arrows Capital sees BTC as strong bet
Zhu Su, co-founder of the hedge fun Three Arrows Capital (3ac), has tweeted that he believes BTC and ethereum (ETH) are one of the best investment options for 2022 alongside oil following the BlackRock news.
But when asked on Twitter why short Apple? Su replied, “consumers are not going to be able to afford new iPhones”.
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