Financial titan BlackRock reached a significant milestone by managing over $10.6 trillion in assets.
This growth of around $1.3 trillion in one year is largely driven by the soaring inflows into its ETFs.
The iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), BlackRock’s largest spot Bitcoin ETF, holds more than $19.4 billion in Bitcoin, securing a 35.2% market share among US Bitcoin ETFs. The firm’s significant market influence means its trading activities can considerably impact Bitcoin’s price.
In the second quarter of 2024, investors poured $83 billion into BlackRock’s ETFs, bringing the year-to-date total to over $150 billion. This influx resulted in an 8% revenue increase and an 11% rise in operating income year-over-year.
Larry Fink, the company’s CEO, attributes part of this success to BlackRock’s strong corporate and governmental relationships, enhancing its capital partnership in private markets.
Bitcoin’s price recently rose to almost $63,000 due to positive BTC ETF inflows, optimistic views on a potential rate cut by the Fed this year and the assassination attempt on Donald Trump. US spot Bitcoin ETFs have seen net positive inflows for two consecutive weeks, totaling over $414 million, with BlackRock leading the charge on July 12, attracting over $120 million in investments.
Anchorage Digital, a federally chartered crypto custody bank, is urging its institutional clients to move away from major stablecoins like USDC, Agora USD (AUSD), and Usual USD (USD0), recommending instead a shift to the Global Dollar (USDG) — a stablecoin issued by Paxos and backed by a consortium that includes Anchorage itself.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has voiced concerns over the rise of zero-knowledge (ZK) digital identity projects, specifically warning that systems like World — formerly Worldcoin and backed by OpenAI’s Sam Altman — could undermine pseudonymity in the digital world.
A new report by the European Central Bank (ECB) reveals that digital payment methods continue to gain ground across the euro area, though cash remains a vital part of the consumer payment landscape — particularly for small-value transactions and person-to-person (P2P) payments.
Geopolitical conflict rattles markets, but history shows panic selling crypto in response is usually the wrong move.