Just days after rival Fidelity introduced a similar fund, BlackRock launched its blockchain ETF and dubbed the category a “megatrend.” Blockchain and tech ETF (IBLC) was introduced to the iShares megatrends product suite on Wednesday by the biggest asset manager in the world, which oversees around $10 trillion in assets.
A total of more than $50 billion in assets are managed by BlackRock’s thematic platform, which includes 43 products.
Rachel Aguirre, BlackRock’s chief of US iShares product, stated “As the millennial generation and self-directed investors gain more power, so do their purchasing patterns and the firms they invest in. This extension of our megatrends line-up represents this power and the emergence of the self-directed investor.”
According to the business, IBLC aims exposure to global enterprises at the forefront of “research, innovation and exploitation” of blockchain and crypto technology. This application was submitted in January. It does not invest directly in cryptocurrency. Just after Fidelity listed its Crypto Industry and Digital Payments ETF (FDIG) and its Metaverse ETF, a new blockchain-based fund was established (FMET). Both ETFs have a 39-basis-point expense ratio.
Current holdings for BlackRock’s 47-basis-point product are 34. Coinbase, Marathon Digital, and Riot Blockchain, which together account for moreover 10% of the portfolio, are the three companies with the greatest stakes.
Galaxy Digital, IBM, Hive Blockchain Technologies, Bitfarms, and PayPal round up the top five. New consumer, industrial renaissance, and medical advancements were highlighted in a document issued by BlackRock in conjunction with its ETF launch.
The paper reads “While the price and volatility of cryptocurrencies have received the most attention, we think the greater prospect of using blockchain technology for payments, contracts, and consumption is still undervalued.”
People who have been excluded from the $150 billion yearly markets for their personal data may retake control of it thanks to cryptocurrency assets, according to the report. There are already 87 nations in the process of experimenting with central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), according to BlackRock’s study.
There was no more comment from a BlackRock spokeswoman on the company’s ambitions for the crypto market. Digital currency adoption might be accelerated by the conflict in Ukraine, according to CEO Larry Fink in a letter to shareholders last month. Earlier this month, BlackRock and Fidelity took part in a fundraising round for Circle, a peer-to-peer payments technology business.
