BlackRock: ETH ETF is a complement to BTC ETF rather than a substitute.

The digital asset head of this investment giant discussed the company's attitude towards cryptocurrencies at the annual Bitcoin conference in Nashville on Thursday. BlackRock's Robert Mitchnick (right) converses with Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart at the 2024 Bitcoin conference in Nashville. Tennessee - BlackRock, the world's largest asset management company, stated that its Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are "more complementary than competitive or substitutes," reaffirming its commitment to these two cryptocurrencies. On Thursday, at the 2024 Bitcoin conference in Nashville, BlackRock's digital asset manager Robert Mitchnick spoke and made the above remarks. Bloomberg research analyst James Seyffart questioned Mitchnick. BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) made history as one of the 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs approved and launched in January by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company is also one of the investment management firms that launched a spot Ether ETF on Tuesday, the iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA). Some believe that the Ether ETF will cannibalize investment capital originally allocated to Bitcoin ETFs, but Mitchnick disagrees. He pointed out that on Monday, the day before BlackRock launched the spot Ether ETF, IBIT's inflows were close to an all-time high. Inflows for spot Bitcoin were slightly below 530 million USD. Mitchnick stated: "We see that over the past few days, even with the $ETH [ETF] launch, even as the Bitcoin price fell... we also see net creations for IBIT, without any outflows." He added, "Ultimately, this is actually beneficial for the ecosystem." Mitchnick revealed that BlackRock's foray into the cryptocurrency space is part of its carefully crafted strategy, which first took shape in 2021. At that time, the investment giant partnered with Coinbase to integrate its portfolio management system named Aladdin with Coinbase's full-service institutional cryptocurrency brokerage platform, Coinbase Prime. Mitchnick said: "These were important early foundational steps that ultimately enabled us to launch the Bitcoin ETF." The integration of Coinbase with Aladdin not only means that BlackRock can now trade Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, but also that BlackRock's clients will have access to the same functionalities. Mitchnick stated: "In the future, any BlackRock portfolio manager or fund, or any Aladdin client fund, will be able to trade, settle, and custody Bitcoin within their existing operational and risk contracts, which is very important for institutions." According to the company's website, over 200 institutions are currently using BlackRock's Aladdin platform. The website states, "Clients include insurance companies, pension funds, corporations, asset management firms, banks, and official institutions." BlackRock's crypto strategy is not limited to ETFs. The company launched the tokenized fund BUIDL in early 2024, which now has a market value of over 500 million USD. Mitchnick said: "When we think about the digital asset space, we think about cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and tokenization. We launched a tokenized fund earlier this year, and now it is the largest tokenized fund in the world."