Following new last week that billionaire investor Steven Cohen was said to have put money into a hedge fund focusing on crypto, Bitcoin et al. are extending gains today following headlines that BlackRock has formed a team to look into ways to take advantage of the cryptocurrency market and blockchain.
In the last week we have seen the owner of Switzerland’s securities exchange in Zurich say it’s creating a platform for trading digital assets.
Then, according to Fortune, none other than billionaire Steve Cohen has decided to join the bitcoin party and has invested in a Autonomous Partners, a relatively new hedge fund that is acquiring both cryptocurrencies and blockchain-related companies.
And now, as Financial News reports, the world’s largest asset manager will examine whether the manager of $6.3 trillion of assets should invest in Bitcoin futures. It is also reportedly reviewing what competitors are doing with cryptocurrencies and how it would affect its business.
Notably, the formation of the team marks a change for the company after CEO Larry Fink said in October cryptocurrencies are a speculative platform in Asia and heavily used for money laundering. He has also said Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies were “far from” being an opportunity for institutional investors, and none of BlackRock’s clients wanted to invest in it, according to Financial News.
And all of this comes after JPMorgan, Fidelity, and CME among others have stepped into the crypto mix.
Bitcoin has spiked back above $6500, back at one-week highs…
And the rest of the crypto space is rising also – led by Bitcoin Cash…
So the big question is – Is the institutional investor finally ready to join the crypto party?
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