The world's largest asset manager with almost $9.5 trillion assets under management does not want to hurry with its own crypto ETFs despite green light given by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
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Salim Ramji, Global Head of iShares and Index Investments at BlackRock, told Financial News the fund currently "has no plans" to launch crypto ETFs. Ramji cited the "incredibly opaque" regulatory arena for cryptocurrencies as one of the reasons why the fund holds back from launching a cryptocurrency-focused exchange-traded fund.
"I personally think crypto — things like stablecoins and certainly things like distributed ledger technologies — are a disruptive technology. The regulatory arena for cryptocurrencies is still incredibly opaque and not clear at all," Ramji said.
Ramji emphasized that the regulatory framework is just one example of one requirement among many the fund would need to be clear about "before launching into something." He also said noted liquidity is another one issue that stops BlackRock from joining the market.
"The result of that may mean that we are not going to be the first in a given market if we do not think the circumstances are right for it," he explained.
The comments come after the SEC approved the first US bitcoin-futures ETF from ProShares — Bitcoin Strategy ETF. The product is available at the New York Stock Exchange with the ticker "BITO." Later, the regulator approved the same applications for a bitcoin-futures ETF filed by VanEck and Valkyrie Investments.
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