BlackRock Strategic Income Opportunities

History

2021: BlackRock begins to invest in bitcoin futures

At the end of January 2021, investment giant BlackRock, with $8.7 trillion in assets, sent two statements to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), providing for the possibility of investing in bitcoin futures for its funds. We are talking about the structures of BlackRock Strategic Income Opportunities and BlackRock Global Allocation Fund.

This step for the first time opens access to cryptocurrencies for customers of the world's largest investment company. Both funds can use, among other assets, only bitcoins futures with cash settlement, that is, the holder will receive a simple cash loan after the expiration of the contract.

BlackRock begins to invest in bitcoin futures

In particular, two BlackRock funds will only trade those bitcoin futures that are available on exchanges registered by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Currently, the only registered exchange of this type is CME.

At the same time, the investment fund BlackRock warns:

The fund's investment in bitcoin futures may be associated with illiquidity risks, since bitcoin futures are not trading as actively as other futures, given the relative novelty of bitcoin futures.

The filing of documents with the SEC itself does not guarantee anything, but thereby BlackRock prepares the ground for possible investments and for the first time declares its interest in Bitcoin. Earlier, BlackRock top manager Rick Rieder said that cryptocurrencies will remain with us for a long time and will not disappear, even if they begin to be regulated by the authorities. Reader emphasized that Bitcoin is a "stable mechanism that can take the place of gold." The CEO of BlackRock Larry Fink in 2020 also noted that "the bitcoin ― is a small asset which can turn into the global market".^[1]

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