BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, has launched a new exchange traded blockchain fund (ETF) for European users.
The iShares Blockchain Technology UCITS ETF (BLKC) will track the performance of 35 global companies whose activities are mainly built around blockchain technology – miners, cryptocurrencies, etc.
BLKC does not invest directly in cryptocurrencies.
Omar Mufti – the company’s product strategist – said the firm is a proponent of blockchain technology, which is why it has gone down this path:
“The exposure offered by the iShares Blockchain Technology UCITS ETF will give our clients the opportunity to invest in global companies leading the development of the nascent blockchain ecosystem.”
Europe’s largest stock exchange, Euronext, has placed the BlackRock ETF on its platform at a total expense ratio (TER) of 0.50%.
Earlier this year, BlackRock launched the iShares Blockchain and Tech ETF (IBLC). It allowed consumers to invest in many major companies in the crypto industry, including popular cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and leading miner BTC Marathon Digital.
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink says the company is willing to explore the merits of cryptocurrencies, stackablecoins and blockchain technology, although he has previously been one of the asset class’s fiercest critics when he called Bitcoin an “index of money laundering”.
