Two titans from different corners of the investment world are partnering up to bring cryptocurrency trading to wealthy clients.
In a new blog post, top US-based crypto exchange Coinbase announced an alliance with BlackRock, the traditional finance investment behemoth with $10 trillion in assets under management (AUM).
Institutional investors who use BlackRock’s Aladdin management platform will now be able to purchase Bitcoin (BTC) via Coinbase Prime, with access to other altcoins coming at a future date.
“Built for institutions, Coinbase Prime integrates advanced agency trading, custody, prime financing, staking, and staking infrastructure, data, and reporting that supports the entire transaction lifecycle.
We combine these capabilities with leading security, insurance, and compliance practices to provide institutional clients of Coinbase with a full-service platform to access crypto markets at scale.”
Coinbase Prime users can trade over 200 digital assets, as well as invest in more than 300 cryptos which are held by Coinbase Custody, a custodial service for institutional investors with big money. It’s chartered in New York State and designed to give clients a highly secure way to store large amounts of cryptocurrency.
The partnership will enable direct integration between Coinbase Prime and clients of the world’s largest asset manager, with new functionality features to be rolled out in phases.
BlackRock’s global head of strategic ecosystem partnerships Joseph Chalom says of the deal,
“Our institutional clients are increasingly interested in gaining exposure to digital asset markets and are focused on how to efficiently manage the operational lifecycle of these assets.
This connectivity with Aladdin will allow clients to manage their Bitcoin exposures directly in their existing portfolio management and trading workflows for a whole portfolio view of risk across asset classes.”
Back in April, BlackRock entered the crypto arena in a big way by launching an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that aims to track cutting-edge blockchain firms.
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