Coinbase Cooperates With BlackRock to Provide Aladdin Customers with Bitcoin Access

Customers of Aladdin can now use Bitcoin thanks to a partnership between Coinbase and BlackRock. Coinbase‘s high-profile cooperation with one of the world’s largest asset managers shows institutional interest in crypto even during this bear market.

a system for exchanging digital currencies BlackRock, the world’s largest asset management firm, has teamed up with Coinbase to provide institutional customers of its Aladdin platform with access to crypto through Coinbase Prime.

Institutional investors that trust BlackRock with their money will now get access to Coinbase’s trading, custody, prime brokerage and reporting capabilities. BlackRock’s institutional clients control $20 trillion in assets under management. For the time being, users will be able to access Bitcoin.

Huge Development for Coinbase

To prepare for what it believes will be a “extended” Crypto Winter, the crypto exchange lay off 18,000 employees, a significant development at a time when the market is already in chaos.. In spite of a 60% decline in its shares (COIN) so far this year, the stock gained 22% on Thursday morning following the BlackRock announcement.

Bitcoin trade activity totaled $1.6 billion in the last 24 hours on CoinMarketCap, which covers more than 200 other cryptocurrencies on Coinbase. According to Brett Tejpaul, CEO of Coinbase Institutional, 70 percent of that volume comes from the company’s institutional clients.

During a conference call with Decrypt on Thursday morning, he explained that Coinbase’s approach is to provide a single point of entry into the market for doing anything that one would want to do with crypto: buy, sell, store, stake, and so on. For Coinbase and the industry as a whole, “having a collaboration with Aladdin that allows $20 trillion in money access to crypto is a big game changer.”

Because of tough markets, there is still an interest from institutions as well.

According to Tejpaul, “These slow moving giants require literally years to think about digital assets, bitcoin.” “A year to 18 months would be considered going fast for them. Institutions have remained on board despite a tumultuous background across all markets, not just bitcoin.

An announcement by BlackRock stated the alliance would allow customers to monitor their crypto investments in the same way they do the rest of their portfolio.

Using Aladdin, BlackRock clients will be able to manage their Bitcoin exposures directly in their existing portfolio management and trading processes, according to Joseph Chalom, BlackRock’s global head of strategic ecosystem relationship, in a press release.

It’s not BlackRock’s first foray into the crypto world this year.

The iShares Blockchain and Tech ETF, which provides investors with exposure to blockchain technology without directly investing in digital assets, was listed in April by the $10 trillion asset manager.

The ETF’s portfolio contained 11.45 percent of COIN shares at the time. That percentage has since risen to 13.27 percent. Under the ticker symbol IBLC, the iShares ETF trades on Arca at the New York Stock Exchange.

As a result, Coinbase began offering “nano” Bitcoin futures trading contracts at the end of June, which may be acquired in denominations equivalent to 1/100th of a bitcoin. Third-party retail brokers offer the contract for sale.

Coinbase’s acquisition of FairX, which is already licensed by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, allowed the company to make the offering viable. Like FTX’s acquisition of LedgerX and of North American Derivative Exchange by Crypto.com, this is how Crypto.com entered the United States derivatives market.

Even so, the National Futures Association has not yet approved Coinbase’s application to become a Futures Commission Merchant.

Spot and futures trading would be available on the same platform in the future, Tejpaul said. “We’re pursuing our FCM,” Tejpaul added. The National Futures Association has yet to approve the company’s application for its own Futures Commission Merchant license.