World’s Top Asset Manager Holds $384M in Crypto Mining Firm Shares

A filing from the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, shows that it holds $384 million worth of shares in companies from the crypto and bitcoin mining space.

Data from an SEC filing shows that investment management firm BlackRock holds $384 million worth of shares in bitcoin mining firms. The filing, published in late June, shows stakes in mining companies as it seems to warm up to the crypto space. The firm is the world’s largest asset manager with $9 trillion in assets under management.

BlackRock has been mulling the cryptocurrency space in the past few years, setting off many discussions about growing adoption. The company does not directly invest in cryptocurrencies, like many institutional investors, but rather chooses to invest in firms tied to the industry.

Among the companies that Blackrock has stakes in are Marathon Digital Holdings and Riot Blockchain, with stakes of 6.71% and 6.61%, respectively. Both companies have seen their share values rise phenomenally over the past year. The bull market, of course, played a part in this rise in valuation.

Investment in crypto companies from major asset managers is a clear sign that the market is making progress. Once upon a time, these asset managers ignored the crypto market, but the perception of cryptocurrencies has changed markedly in recent times. Investments from MicroStrategy, Tesla, and others have caused this shift, and it appears to be having a permanent hold.

Incumbent financial entities gobbling up crypto

BlackRock is not the only financial entity to indirectly invest in the market. JPMorgan Chase is also offering crypto funds to wealthy clients, allowing them to invest in six different funds. Goldman Sachs went one step further, offering a DeFi-focused fund to clients.

Investors are generally more open to the safer and less volatile option of investing in the companies themselves. In the United States, one reason why regulators have not approved a purely asset-based crypto ETF is because of said volatility. Authorities are keen on protecting investors from this and market manipulation, which has staggered ETF approvals.

The adoption rate for the market is likely to increase once those approvals are in place, though it may take some time. The U.S. government is currently wrangling with regulation, focused on making a broad framework that regulates the market from top to bottom.