Bitcoin
BTC
, ethereum and other major cryptocurrencies have seen a huge shift in sentiment over recent weeks with prices rising (despite a Tesla bombshell and Elon Musk revealing the cryptocurrency he’s “mainly” supporting).
The bitcoin price has added around 20% since this time last month with ethereum making even larger gains as analysts warn a “hundred-pound gorilla” is “getting closer by the day.” The price of other major cryptocurrencies including—ethereum, BNB
BNB
, XRP
XRP
, solana, cardano and dogecoin—have also bounced back from their recent lows.
Now, after the world’s largest asset manager sent shockwaves through the crypto industy last week, BlackRock has suddenly launched a spot bitcoin private trust, opening up the bitcoin and crypto market to the $10 trillion asset manager’s U.S. institutional clients.
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Wall Street and the traditional finance industry are gearing up to enter the bitcoin and crypto … [+]
AFP via Getty Images
“Despite the steep downturn in the digital asset market, we are still seeing substantial interest from some institutional clients in how to efficiently and cost-effectively access these assets using our technology and product capabilities,” BlackRock
BLK
wrote in a blog post just days after setting the crypto market alight with news of its partnership with major crypto exchange Coinbase to provide BlackRock institutional clients with access to bitcoin.
Despite a flood of bullish news and huge bitcoin, etheruem and crypto price predictions that point to bitcoin’s “fair value,” the crypto market is still reeling from a $2 trillion crash that has sapped investor confidence and fed fears some big cryptocurrencies could follow the algorithmic stablecoin terraUSD and its support coin luna into complete collapse.
“Demand for bitcoin among Wall Street’s power players has effectively decoupled from prices in the broader crypto markets,” Alex Adelman, the chief executive of bitcoin rewards app Lolli, said in emailed comments and pointing to “a new phase of adoption.”
“This unflagging interest in bitcoin by BlackRock and its sophisticated institutional clients, even amid a market downturn in crypto at large, reflects a heightened, nuanced understanding of bitcoin’s global, long-term importance among market-moving players on Wall Street,” Adelman added.
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The bitcoin price has rallied this last month, climbing over $24,000 per bitcoin and helping the … [+]
Forbes Digital Assets
BlackRock’s launch of a bitcoin private trust potentially means it will be directly in competition with digitial asset manager Grayscale, the world’s largest cryptocurrency investment vehicle, and follows news other Wall Street stalwarts are increasingly open to offering bitcoin and crypto market access.
“The message which [BlackRock has sent] to other institutions cannot be underestimated and is a significant milestone for the whole crypto industry,” Marcus Sotiriou, an analyst at the digital asset broker GlobalBlock, wrote in an emailed note.
Last month, London-listed $900 billion asset manager Schroders acquired a minority stake in a blockchain and digital assets focused Forteus, the asset management arm of Swiss firm Numeus Group in a move that could allow it to offer tokenised funds to investors.
