BlackRock, the world’s largest asset management firm, has made a surprising move in the world of cryptocurrencies by filing for a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). This decision shows a significant change of position considering the company’s previous skepticism towards digital currencies.
The company’s dubious stance was revealed in an interview in 2018; When Larry Fink, the CEO of BlackRock, stated that the company’s customers have not shown any interest in digital currencies. He emphasized that this company does not see the need to prepare to offer products related to digital assets.
During a Bloomberg interview on July 16, 2018, Larry Fink acknowledged the importance of blockchain technology, but dismissed the possibility that BlackRock’s customers would be looking for cryptocurrencies.
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However, Fink noted that the company will only consider crypto investments when there are established structures and a sense of legitimacy.
It is worth noting that since then, the cryptocurrency market has seen an increase in adoption by institutional investors, despite ongoing regulatory uncertainties.
Since then, BlackRock has taken several initiatives to embrace the crypto sector. In March 2022, the company announced that it was actively studying cryptocurrencies, stablecoins and underlying technologies in response to growing customer interest.
Additionally, in August 2022, BlackRock partnered with the Coinbase exchange to allow select institutional customers direct access to Bitcoin.
While we await feedback from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), BlackRock has earned a positive reputation with regulators.
If the company’s spot ETF plan is approved, it could have far-reaching implications for the overall cryptocurrency market. It’s worth noting that the SEC has yet to approve any bitcoin spot ETFs; Although it has given the green light to ETFs based on Bitcoin futures in the past.
The introduction of a spot product is expected to have a significant impact on the market value of digital currencies and attract institutional investors to this market.
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