BlackRock Inc., the world’s largest asset manager, is partnering with Coinbase Global Inc. to offer direct access to bitcoin to some institutional clients.
Common clients of Coinbase
COIN,
and BlackRock’s
BLK,
investment management platform Aladdin, will get access to crypto trading, custody, prime brokerage, and reporting capabilities, according to a statement Thursday.
“Our institutional clients are increasingly interested in gaining exposure to digital asset markets and are focused on how to efficiently manage the operational life cycle of these assets,” Joseph Chalom, global head of strategic ecosystem partnerships at BlackRock, wrote in the statement.
In March, BlackRock’s chairman Larry Fink wrote in a letter to shareholders that the company is studying digital currencies, stablecoins and the underlying technologies as the firm has seen increasing interest from clients.
Bitcoin
BTCUSD,
was trading at around $22,952 Thursday, down 1.6% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinDesk data.
