2018-7-16 19:18 |
World's Biggest BlackRock Looking At Bitcoin
From previous comments several months ago that were unusual from legacy investment at the time, the world’s largest asset manager has spoken again. A July 16, 2018 Financial News London report notes that the company is considering bitcoin trading in new ways. The New York asset management company is the largest such in the world, managing assets of some $6.3 trillion.
BlackRock has a focus group looking at ways in which the company can “take advantage” of digital currencies. The group is also looking at blockchain technology application and what its peers and rivals are doing about digital assets. While many immediately took to social media hailing the news as indicative of the bull’s return, markets too responded, with BTC gaining $280.
The digital asset rose from a morning price of $6,360 to $6,646 within two short hours. A more moderate stance sees the company’s interest as merely coincidental, and the product of months of planning.
BlackRock Bitcoin ETF InterestThe multi-disciplinary team are rumored to spawn or at least suggest a bitcoin exchange traded fund (ETF). BlackRock CEO, Larry Fink, has previously spoken enthusiastically about virtual currencies. Although in October 2017 he warned that bitcoin was “an index for money laundering,” he also said that he remained a “big believer” in bitcoin.
The firm has confirmed its interest without much fanfare, but many suspect a serious entry by the sector giant. The company said in February 2018 that it saw blockchain’s potential, no matter certain application issues, and that it saw digital currencies becoming more mainstream in future.
Strategist Richard Turnhill also wrote in a company report at the time that he felt cryptocurrencies would become far more widely employed and entrenched in the future as markets matured. He qualified that statement by saying that he nonetheless felt at the time that people
“believe [digital assets] should only be considered by those who can stomach potentially complete losses.”
“Similarly,” Turnhill wrote, “blockchain needs to overcome significant hurdles to reach its promising future.”
BlackRock Big Enough To Awake BitcoinAlongside Thomas Lee, FundStrat’s head of research, BlackRock now join’s JP Morgan and other giant fintech players in their pursuit of blockchain efficiencies and crypto investments. Bank of America too, has many blockchain patents and global consortia are engaging with one another, rolling out decentralized payment and other pilots. It has been less than a year since JP Morgan’s CEO, Jamie Dimon, called Bitcoin a “fraud,” and sentiment has turned. Dimon did subsequently retract his statement however, apologizing for his earlier comment.
Although still extremely derisive of digital assets, legacy money handlers are rushing to investigate blockchain technology. At a slower pace and with lesser noise, the more-stable digital currencies are also a fascinating unknown that refuses to go away.
Were BlackRock to “sanction” bitcoin and others by actively participating in its trading, the move contains the potential to bring on the long-awaited bull market. Bitcoin is currently trading at $6.640.00.
origin »Bitcoin (BTC) на Currencies.ru
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