Major asset manager BlackRock has launched a US-based institutional-focused trust that tracks the price of the first cryptocurrency.

NEW: BlackRock offers its first investment product directly in Bitcoin in response to demand from large institutional clients seeking exposure to the asset https://t.co/R81wXXQxEC

— Bloomberg Crypto (@crypto) 11 August 2022

This is the company’s first such product.

“Despite the sharp decline in the cryptocurrency market, we continue to see significant interest in how we can access these assets efficiently and cost-effectively using our technologies.” says the press release.

The company said that more capital markets see the potential to leverage stablecoins, cryptocurrencies, as well as private blockchains and tokenization capabilities.

BlackRock manages $9.5 trillion in assets.

Recall that in August 2022, Coinbase agreed to cooperate with BlackRock. Clients of the latter will have direct access to digital asset trading through the portfolio management system. Aladdin.

BlackRock plans to expand Aladdin’s functionality in February 2022 at the expense of known cryptocurrencies. At the time, there were reports about the potential integration of a lending service secured by digital assets.

In April 2022, the CEO of management company Larry Fink announced the possibility of expanding into the cryptocurrency market. Nine months ago, it registered minimal customer interest in digital assets.

Since February 2021, some BlackRock funds have started investing in bitcoin futures.

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