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Blackrock puts the brakes on altcoins: 'Priority to Bitcoin and Ethereum'
By Davide Grammatica
Plans for new crypto ETFs are of no interest, for now, to Blackrock, which says it is committed to pushing products on Bitcoin and Ethereum
ETFs: for altcoins Blackrock wants to wait
Blackrock, the issuer of the largestBitcoin spot ETF , IBIT, has made it known that it has no plans, for the time being, to delve into talks with respect to the launch of new altcoin-based ETFs.
The asset manager’s priority concerns IBIT and ETHA, the two ETFs based on Bitcoin and Ethereum, which would still have great growth prospects given the results they have acquired this year.
Clarifying the issue was Jay Jacobs, head of BlackRock’s ETF department, who stressed that focusing on the scope of ETFs launched in 2024 is the financial giant’s priority.
“We only see the tip of the iceberg as far as Bitcoin and Ethereum are concerned,” Jacobs said. “Only a small fraction of our customers own IBIT and ETHA, so that’s what we’re focusing on.”
In other words, BR’s strategy would be to strengthen its already dominant position in the market, while avoiding too much product differentiation by also focusing on the other altcoins. A different approach than some of the competition, which already plans products based on Solana and XRP, but more than reasonable for the position the issuer has gained within the ETF industry. You can follow us on Telegram so you don’t miss ETF market updates.
“We’re really just at the tip of the iceberg with Bitcoin and especially ethereum. Just a tiny fraction of our clients own ($IBIT and $ETHA) so that’s what we’re focused on (vs launching new alt coin ETFs)” – Jay Jacobs of BlackRock at ETFs in Depth.
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) December 12, 2024
SOL and XRP are being looked to for new ETFs
The performance of IBIT and ETHA in 2024, after all, has been resounding, with the former already among the world’s most capitalized funds and the latter just joining the club of ETFs with more than $1 billion in assets under management.
What’s more, Blackrock does not seem to be optimistic even about the very feasibility of possibly approving new ETFs. Robert Mitchnick, head of BlackRock’s digital assets business, has repeatedly quelled enthusiasm: “A new ETF beyond IBIT and ETHA would not meet the necessary maturity and liquidity criteria.”
This applies to Solana, but also to XRP, about which regulatory doubts are even greater, however. For many analysts, the chances of seeing new ETFs on SOL or XRP in 2025 are very high, thanks to the change of approach given by the Trump administration, but the chances that they could be born on Blackrock’s initiative are low.
