BlackRock bets on crypto

When BlackRock does things, people pay attention. The world’s largest asset manager has identified crypto as one of the three big opportunities going forward, and has started building crypto products.

BlackRock has now launched a blockchain ETF to its clients, to help them build a larger level of exposure crypto and associated assets. This Blockchain and Tech ETF (IBLC) product is a $4.7 million ETF that tracks a wide range of 41 international companies that are directly involved in blockchain-based assets. Mainstream crypto exchange, Coinbase, is the largest slice of the fund, accounting 11.45 per cent of total assets.

Meanwhile, the asset manager recently published a report in which it listed the three big opportunities facing investors at the moment. Crypto forms the core of the third category, “new consumers and the power of the purse”, listed below:

An industrial renaissance

Permanent changes in the way goods are produced and transported are catalysing a modern industrial renaissance. We look at trends in automation, infrastructure, self-driving and electric vehicles.

The upshot of medical breakthroughs

Healthcare has been transformed. mRNA vaccines and precision medicine are accelerating trends in genomics, immunology and neuroscience.

New consumers and the power of the purse

Millennials and the growth of emerging market consumers are revolutionising spending and consumption. We focus on decentralized digital ecosystems and the future of food.

Essentially, BlackRock sees digital assets like crypto as a “youth-orientated” asset, and one that will grow in prominence as the younger generations continue to invest in these assets.