Global investment giant BlackRock has taken two major steps to strengthen its foothold in the cryptocurrency sector.
On March 25, the firm expanded its tokenized money market fund to the Solana blockchain and introduced a Bitcoin exchange-traded product (ETP) in Europe.
BlackRock has rolled out its iShares Bitcoin ETP across several European exchanges, marking a significant expansion of its crypto investment products. The ETP began trading on March 25 on Germany’s Xetra, Euronext Paris, and Euronext Amsterdam. It is listed under the ticker IB1T on Xetra and Paris, while Amsterdam’s listing carries the symbol BTCN.
To attract investors, BlackRock is offering a promotional fee of 0.15% until 2026, after which it will rise to 0.25%. This move follows the success of the firm’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) in the U.S., which has amassed over $50 billion in assets and now holds nearly 2.9% of Bitcoin’s total supply.
BlackRock’s USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) has officially launched on the Solana blockchain, making it the seventh network to support the product. Previously, BUIDL had been available on Ethereum, Avalanche, Arbitrum, Aptos, Polygon, and Optimism.
The decision to integrate Solana was influenced by the network’s ability to handle transactions quickly and with lower fees. Securitize, BlackRock’s partner for the initiative, emphasized that Solana’s efficiency made it a natural choice for expansion.
BUIDL provides tokenized exposure to traditional money market funds, offering around-the-clock trading compared to conventional market hours. The fund currently manages over $1.7 billion in assets, with the majority—more than $1.5 billion—held on Ethereum. Other blockchains such as Avalanche and Aptos each host about $53 million, while smaller allocations exist on Polygon, Arbitrum, and Optimism.
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