BlackRock’s planned ETF would be ‘the best thing’ for Bitcoin: Novogratz

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BlackRock Headquarters. (Photo by Leonardo Munoz/VIEWpress) BlackRock is looking to launch the first cash bitcoin exchange-traded fund in the United States, according to an SEC filing. The world’s largest asset manager filed an application on Thursday to launch the iShares Bitcoin Trust. Billionaire crypto investor Mike Novogratz said the ETF, if successful, would be the “best thing” for bitcoin.

BlackRock is pushing to launch the first cash bitcoin exchange-traded fund in the United States, even as the crypto sector faces a regulatory crackdown in the country.

The world’s largest asset manager on Thursday filed an application with the Securities and Exchange Commission to create the iShares Bitcoin Trust, using Coinbase as its custodian.

If approved, the ETF would trade on the Nasdaq exchange and provide investors with easy exposure to the crypto market through one of the biggest names in the investment world. This could be a watershed moment for the digital asset industry in the US – and would be a big boost for bitcoin, according to Mike Novogratz, CEO of Galaxy Digital.

“The shares are intended to be a simple means of making an investment similar to investing in bitcoin rather than acquiring, holding and trading bitcoin directly on a peer-to-peer or other basis or through an asset exchange. digital,” the filing said.

The move comes at a time when the crypto industry is under intense scrutiny from US regulators, following the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX. Coinbase itself, as well as Binance, the two biggest crypto players in the industry, were both recently sued by the SEC for allegedly mining unregistered securities.

Billionaire crypto bull Novogratz hailed BlackRock’s move as a potential win for bitcoin, if successful.

“@BlackRock getting a $BTC ETF would be the best thing that could happen to $BTC,” he said in a tweet.

BlackRock is a global ETF industry leader, with its funds among the most-watched funds across all asset classes – the company’s largest iShares Core S&P 500 ETF IVV holds $325.75 billion in assets. If the fund manager is successful in its foray into crypto, it could be seen as a major vote of confidence in the crypto industry from institutional investors.

Bitcoin was trading up 2.8% on the day at $25,565, when last checked on Friday.

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