BlackRock Joins Fidelity and Vanguard as Bitcoin Mining Investor

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Flags fly across the front of BlackRock’s headquarters on Wednesday, January 13, 2021, in New York City. The … [+] the financial asset manager publishes its results on Thursday, January 14. (AP Photo / Mark Lennihan)

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Mandatory SEC filing dated June 30, 2021 shows Blackrock, the world’s largest asset manager with $ 9 trillion in assets, has taken significant stakes in two bitcoin miners, 6.71% in Marathon Digital Holdings and 6.61% in Riot Blockchain.

The total capital commitment amounts to $ 382,962,003.08 million between the two miners. Among Blackrocks’ hundreds of mutual funds and ETFs, large indices like its iShares Russell 2000 ETF and its iShares Expanded Tech-Software sector hold shares of crypto miners.

The disclosure comes after Fidelity Group recently revealed that it has taken equally large stakes in bitcoin miners. The Valley Forge, PA-based Vanguard Group is currently the largest shareholder in Marathon Digital and Riot Blockchain, led by BlackRock after the recent filing was disclosed.

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The Blackrocks disclosure is part of a larger trend for traditional financial institutions and investors to increase their exposure to crypto through traditional stocks.

BlackRocks’ first foray into the crypto market was in 2019 when it hired Robert Mitchnick, former head of product marketing for Ripple, who is now at the head of distributed ledger technology and digital assets. at BlackRock.

In January, BlackRock also filed documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission to include cash-settled bitcoin futures as eligible investments for two of its funds, the BlackRock Global Allocation Fund and the BlackRock Strategic Income Opportunities Portfolio.

Later in April, the company revealed through an SEC filing that the BlackRock Global Allocation Fund has 37 futures contracts with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange group, which matched the January SEC filings. by BlackRock for cash-settled bitcoin futures contracts for two of its funds.

Both Marathon and Riot saw their stocks rise and fall with the price of bitcoin, which hit an all-time high of over $ 60,000 in April. Marathon has seen its stock jump 754% in the past 12 months, and Riots has risen 848% compared to a 288% increase in the price of bitcoin over the same period. BlackRock owns $ 206,791,012.04 from Marathon and $ 176,170,991.04 from Riot.

Earlier this summer, China announced a ban on bitcoin miners. Some expect US-based companies like Marathon, based in Las Vegas, Nevada and Riot, based near Denver, Colorado, to benefit.

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