By
Godfrey Benjamin
April 20th, 2024
The financial investments giants have considered allocating their mutual fund holdings to cryptocurrency mining companies in the U.S., Canada, and other parts of the globe.
Financial institutions continue to warm up to the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry with every passing day. Several blockchain companies have started attracting asset managers and financial institutions to invest in them.
According to the latest financial filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), one of the asset managers, the American financial giant Charles Schwab Corporation has started stocking up shares for Riot Blockchain. The U.S.-based Riot Blockchain specializes in Bitcoin mining. The latest stock purchase is a testimony of Schwab’s confidence in the blockchain space. The financial giant has also been experimenting with investments in blockchain over the last few months.
Earlier this summer, Schwab also invested in the Ethereum application platform Alchemy. However, Schwab is not the only player to invest in the blockchain space. America’s investment advisor Vanguard Group has parked its investments in a number of companies like HIVE Blockchain Technologies, Riot Blockchain, Hut 8, and BC Group. Vanguard has also been using Symbiont’s blockchain technology at its end for foreign exchange transactions.
Fidelity Investments has also been an active player in the crypto space. The company’s crypto wing – Fidelity Digital Assets – has expanded its products swiftly in the market. Recently, the crypto subsidiary announced Bitcoin Index Fund specifically for institutional investors. Besides, Fidelity also holds the license to offer crypto custodial services to investors. The company has also increased its investment exposure in crypto mining companies. Fidelity bought a 10% stake in the Canadian Bitcoin Mining Firm Hut 8, in July 2018.
SEC Filing Shows Massive Investments
The SEC document shows that Charles Schwab has purchased 22,977 of Riot Blockchain for $52,000. Two Fidelity funds have also purchased 176,242 Riot shares worth $230,115. Similarly, two Vanguard Index Funds have made an aggregate investment of $2,118,000 in Riot Blockchain. In fact, the Vanguard funds have been holding Riot shares for the last three years.
Bitcoin mining companies outside the U.S. have been also attracting significant investments. Canada based HIVE Blockchain Technologies and Hut 8 has also attracted significant investments from these financial giants.
The previous filings also show that Fidelity Investments has purchased a whopping 17 million shares of Hong-Kong-based digital assets platform BC Group. Big institutional players have considered investments in crypto companies as a hedge to the traditional stock market.
While some have considered investing in regulated crypto investment vehicles, others have gone ahead with a direct crypto purchase. Recently, MicroStrategy invested half-a-billion dollars of its cash pile in Bitcoin accumulating over 35,000 BTC in the last six months.