- BlackRock’s Larry Fink said he supports a spot Ethereum ETF
- “I see value in having an Ethereum ETF,” he said in an interview with CNBC
- BlackRock recorded success on Thursday with the launch of its Bitcoin spot ETF
- The manager filed for an ETH-based product with the SEC in November
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink acknowledged that he has an interest in a spot Ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF).
In an interview with CNBC this Friday, Fink said he “sees value” in having an ETF based on the second largest physical cryptocurrency in the US market.
The statement comes after the successful debut of the first spot Bitcoin ETFs on the country’s stock exchanges. On Thursday, 11 funds began trading, after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) granted its approval to the new class of ETFs in a historic milestone for the cryptocurrency industry.
Among the products approved by the regulator and began trading on Thursday was BlackRock‘s Bitcoin ETF, called iShares Ethereum Trust (IBIT). The giant asset manager’s ETF experienced a glorious first day on the stock market, after recording a trading volume of $1.05 billion, positioning itself among the favorites.
BlackRock‘s Bitcoin ETF also outperformed BITO, the first Bitcoin futures-based ETF, in trading volume on its first day of trading in October 2021. Collectively, the spot ETFs accumulated a volume of more than $4 billion on Thursday in its first day of trading on the Cboe, Nasdaq and NYSE Arca exchanges.
Ethereum ETF is next in the crosshairs
Despite the successful debut, Fink showed a calm attitude in this Friday’s interview. “ These are just steps towards tokenization and I really think this is where we are going,” he commented just after expressing his support for the notion of an Ethereum ETF.
“I don’t think it will ever be a currency,” the CEO continued in response to a question about his opinion on cryptocurrencies. “I think it’s an asset class,” Fink said.
“It’s no different than what gold represented for thousands of years,” he added of Bitcoin, hinting that many investors view the flagship cryptocurrency as an asset that “ protects ” them against fears of geopolitical risk. “Unlike gold, we are almost at the ceiling of the amount of bitcoins that can be created .”
I recorded the CNBC interview with Larry Fink Part1: BTC ETF
— Cryptik1.eth |🛸 (@Cryptik1E) January 12, 2024
(RT to share) pic.twitter.com/X781KBcT3i
In November, several months after submitting its proposal for a spot Bitcoin ETF, BlackRock filed a separate application with the SEC for a similar product based on physical Ethereum. The world’s largest asset manager is now among the list of other applicants awaiting a response on that offer.
Ethereum (ETH) notably rallied this week amid the listing of the first Bitcoin ETFs and hopes for an upcoming Ether-based ETF, rising above $2,600 for the first time since 2022.
Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas estimated Thursday that there is a 70% chance of approval of Ethereum ETF spot funds by May, as the first deadline for the SEC’s decision is May 23.
Under the leadership of Fink, who co-founded BlackRock in 1988, the firm has grown significantly to become a manager with more than $8 trillion in assets under management. In October, Fink said that he had been hearing “from customers around the world about the need for cryptocurrencies.”
