By
Bena Ilyas
April 19th, 2024
BlackRock has been preparing for its crypto trading offering since last June
The world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock (NYSE: BLE), is working towards offering crypto trading services to its investor clients. According to reliable sources who disclosed the matter, BlackRock will make the crypto trading happen on Aladdin, the company’s “Asset, Liability, Debt and Derivative Investment Network.” The asset manager will make its debut into the crypt space with “clients support trading and then with their own credit facility. One of the sources explained that BlackRock’s clients would have the option of borrowing from the company while pledging crypto assets as collateral. However, none of the sources mentioned the cryptocurrencies that BlackRock will support for its crypto trading service. Also, there is currently no information on the set time to launch the new service.
BlackRock to Offer Crypto Trading Services
The period where crypto is scarcely accepted is over. Many financial institutions, including banks and fintech firms, are now offering various crypto services. Wall Street giants, such as Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), Citi (NYSE: C), and Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), are also edging into cryptocurrencies. For BlackRock, the company has been preparing for its crypto trading offering since last June. At the time, the asset manager started hiring for Aladdin blockchain. The firm is looking for a “Software/Blockchain Engineer- Distributed Ledger Technology & Digital Assets.” The job posting says:
“The Aladdin Product Group is looking for a software engineer with experience in blockchain technology to help drive execution of our development activities in distributed ledger technology and digital assets.”
The investment firm gave more green light to crypto when it included trading CME bitcoin futures. In addition, the company intends to launch iShares Blockchain and Tech ETF in the US and overseas. BlackRock also has a 13% stake in MicroStrategy (NASDAQ: MSTR), which consistently buys Bitcoin. One of the sources who revealed BlackRock’s crypto trading plan said the copay has a working group of about 20 people evaluating crypto. The source said:
“They see all the flow that everyone else is getting and want to start making some money from this.”
BlackRock stock has gained 12.96% over the past year and 0.90% in the last five days. Currently, BLK is trading at $811.65 in extended trading hours. This is a 0.17% decline over its previous close of $813. In addition to losses, the investment firm has dropped 11.20% since the beginning o the year, 15.80% in the last three months, and more than 6% over the past month. The company boasts of a market capitalization of $122.47 billion.