Coinbase’s stock makes a ferocious rally of more than 15% in the wake of the deal announcement.
Entering the cryptocurrency market has been announced by the world’s largest fund manager, BlackRock, which will partner with the Coinbase exchange to offer Bitcoin access to institutional investors.
Specifically, BlackRock’s top clients will be able to use its investment management system, “Aladdin”, to track their exposure to Bitcoin along with other assets in their portfolio, such as stocks and bonds, and make trades on Coinbase.
The focus of the partnership with Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency trading platform in the US, “will initially be on Bitcoin,” BlackRock said.
“Our institutional clients are increasingly interested in accessing digital asset markets and are focused on how to effectively manage the lifecycle of these assets,” said Joseph Chalom, head of strategic partnerships at BlackRock.
Institutional investors accounted for about three-quarters of the $309 billion in total trading volume on Coinbase in the first quarter, the exchange reported in May. Coinbase’s clients include hedge funds, corporate funds and asset managers.
“The partnership with BlackRock and Aladdin represents an exciting milestone for our company,” said Brett Tejpaul, head of Coinbase Institutional and Greg Tusar, vice president of institutional products.
“We are committed to advancing the industry and creating new access points as institutional adoption of cryptocurrencies rapidly accelerates,” they added.
Coinbase’s stock is staging a ferocious rally of more than 15% in the wake of the deal announcement.
It’s worth noting that the announcement of the partnership comes as Coinbase is facing an investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission over whether it allowed Americans to trade digital assets that should have been registered as securities.
