While Bitcoin continues its surge, BlackRock, the world’s largest asset management firm, is accelerating its entry into Bitcoin. BlackRock submitted a revised document to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday, seeking to add Bitcoin ETF exposure to its Strategic Income Opportunities Fund (BSIIX).
According to SEC regulatory filings, after the U.S. stock market closed on Monday, BlackRock submitted a revision to the SEC, applying to include Bitcoin exposure in its Strategic Income Opportunities Fund (BSIIX) portfolio.
As of March 1st, BlackRock’s Strategic Income Opportunities Fund (BSIIX) had assets under management of $36.5 billion, with equity net assets totaling $24.2 billion. The fund typically invests in fixed-income securities and other market sectors under certain conditions.
BlackRock stated in the filing that BSIIX is expected to enter the Bitcoin ETF market. This means that BSIIX may purchase the Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Products (ETP) issued by BlackRock’s subsidiary, such as the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), which was approved for listing in January, as well as other recently approved Bitcoin ETFs.
BlackRock’s move to include Bitcoin ETPs in its portfolio indicates that the financial industry is increasingly willing to explore the potential of cryptocurrencies. Traditional financial institutions such as Bank of America and Wells Fargo have recently softened their stance on Bitcoin and are considering allowing clients to invest in Bitcoin ETFs.
BlackRock’s IBIT, since its listing in January, has become the second-largest Bitcoin ETP in terms of assets under management, following Grayscale’s GBTC. Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas noted that IBIT had a trading volume of $2.4 billion on March 4th, ranking first among all spot ETFs, and its assets under management have risen by more than 30% in just six days.
In addition to the U.S. market, BlackRock has also entered the Brazilian market. On February 29th, BlackRock announced a partnership with the Brazilian stock exchange B3 to launch the Brazilian Depositary Receipts (BDR) for IBIT, the first cryptocurrency ETF introduced by BlackRock in Brazil.
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink previously stated in January that asset tokenization would be BlackRock’s next step after the listing of Bitcoin ETFs. In his view, tokenization can solve all the problems surrounding bonds, stocks, and digital illicit activities, and most importantly, it can customize investment strategies for everyone.