BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager with $7.81 trillion under management, appears to have granted at least two of its funds the ability to invest in bitcoin futures.
The updated prospectuses filings for the BlackRock Strategic Income Opportunities fund and the BlackRock Global Allocation Fund Inc. appeared on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission website Wednesday. Derivatives using cash settlement do not require delivery of the underlying asset.
The filings warn that investments in these futures could carry illiquidity risks due to the “relatively new” market. Regulatory changes, volatility and valuation risks could similarly weigh on the price and thus “adversely impact a Fund.”
This move signals a new willingness enter the Bitcoin world, after BlackRock CEO Larry Fink notoriously said in a 2018 interview that the firm’s clients weren’t interested in owning crypto.
Rick Rieder, BlackRock’s CIO for global fixed income, said last year that there’s a clear demand for Bitcoin and that “it’s going to be part of the asset suite for investors for a long time.”
