US-based asset manager BlackRock has rolled out a spot bitcoin private trust for institutional customers in the country.
The trust aims to follow the performance of bitcoin and provide updates on the price of the digital currency directly.
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Being the oldest and most liquid cryptocurrency in the world, bitcoin has generated a lot of enthusiasm among BlackRock’s clients, stated the firm.
Apart from stablecoins, bitcoin is estimated to maintain around half of sector’s market capitalisation.
In a blogpost, BlackRock stated: “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.”
The firm added: “BlackRock is encouraged that organisations such as RMI and Energy Web are developing programmes to bring greater transparency to sustainable energy usage in bitcoin mining, and will follow progress around those initiatives.
“BlackRock has been conducting work in four areas of digital assets and their associated ecosystems where we see potential to benefit our clients and capital markets more broadly, including: permissioned blockchains, stablecoins, cryptoassets, and tokenisation.”
Last week, BlackRock announced an alliance with cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase.
The collaboration will provide common clients of BlackRock’s Aladdin and Coinbase with access to crypto trading, custody, prime brokerage and reporting solutions. The services will be available to bitcoin users initially.
