- Asset management giant Blackrock has filed for a Bitcoin ETF
- Blackrock has teamed up with Coinbase for the attempt
- The pair engaged in a custodial deal last year
Investment giant Blackrock has stunned the crypto world by filing for a Bitcoin ETF. Blackrock, the largest asset manager in the world, submitted the filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to establish a Bitcoin ETF which would provide institutional investors with an opportunity to invest in the cryptocurrency. The initiative by BlackRock, known as the iShares Bitcoin Trust, will utilize Coinbase Custody as its custodian. Talk of such a deal stretches back to 2018, with a custody deal signed 10 months ago seemingly forming the bedrock of the deal.
Blackrock/Coinbase Relationship Dates Back to 2018
Blackrock was first thought to be considering jumping on the Bitcoin ETF bandwagon in 2018 when Coinbase tapped it up for a potential collaboration, but this came to nothing as the crypto market collapsed and all Bitcoin ETF applications were rejected. However, in August last year, Blackrock announced that it had chosen Coinbase to work on a crypto custody and trading solution, with the result being a merging of Coinbase Prime with Aladdin, Blackrock’s investment management platform.
This collaboration led to some, such as us, theorizing that a Blackrock/Coinbase Bitcoin ETF could be on the way, and that’s exactly what we have.
Blackrock Doesn’t Fear SEC’s Coinbase Action
Blackrock filed its application with the SEC to launch the iShares Bitcoin Trust yesterday, which, the filing said, would “constitute a simple means of making an investment similar to an investment in bitcoin rather than by acquiring, holding and trading bitcoin directly on a peer-to-peer or other basis or via a digital asset exchange.”
The application comes at a very interesting time, given that Bitcoin, and Coinbase in particular, is facing huge legal challenges from, of all entities, the SEC. Blackrock’s move therefore shows that it has little faith that the SEC will take strong enough measures against Coinbase to make their partnership problematic, which should in turn boost the mood in the crypto space just a little bit.
