Head of Thematic and Active ETFs at BlackRock Jay Jacobs said Bitcoin is a hedge against currency risks and geopolitical instability. Speaking at the first edition of “BlackRock’s Quick Download” series, Jacobs said the digital asset industry is booming and investors have been loving the firm’s IBIT ETF since its launch.
“Bitcoin is a nascent asset. It’s only one-tenth the size of the gold market,” Jacobs said in the video . “It is therefore highly volatile and behaves somewhat differently than stocks and bonds. Many investors see it as a hedge against potential geopolitical and currency risks.
Other investors see it as a way to apply blockchain technology in the future. In either case, investors must take a measured approach to Bitcoin, weighing both the risks and potential returns of the asset.”
Despite the market downturn, BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETFs still dominate the rankings
Since the launch of the Bitcoin spot ETF in January 2024, Bitcoin has exploded in price to new all-time highs. In March, the leading digital coin hit an ATH of 73,000.
BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF offers the highest returns, with Grayscale close behind in terms of inflows. BlackRock’s IBIT surpassed Grayscale’s Bitcoin ETF in the last week of May. The notable change is that Grayscale has converted its Bitcoin trust to having been on the OTC market since 2015.
Now that it’s mid-year, cryptocurrency-based ETFs have dominated the discussion in the financial sector. Bitcoin was approved in January, followed by Ethereum with approval last month. Although the latter has not yet launched, BTC has already proven to be incredibly valuable.
However, BlackRock’s promotion of Bitcoin and the IBIT ETF comes at an interesting time, as inflows to all spot Bitcoin ETFs have begun to slow. The reduced inflows mark a change from the initial hype surrounding the ETF. As demand for Bitcoin slowed, the asset’s price also dropped to a low of $61,000.
Furthermore, BlackRock and other asset management firms have also thrown their ETF hats into Ethereum, with those assets expected to be approved as soon as next week.
Many investors see Bitcoin and digital assets as the future of everyday finance, hence the interest in these ETFs. BlackRock believes that this interest in the cryptocurrency space will only increase, especially as new alternatives to the dollar and investments become more popular.
