BlackRock launches spot bitcoin private trust for U.S. clients

(Reuters) – BlackRock Inc, the world’s biggest asset manager, has launched a spot bitcoin private trust for institutional clients in the United States, according to a blog post on its website.

The trust will track the performance of bitcoin, offering direct exposure to the price of the digital currency, BlackRock said.

“Despite the steep downturn in the digital asset market, we are still seeing substantial interest from some institutional clients in how to efficiently and cost-effectively access these assets,” the company said.

The move comes a week after cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global Inc said it had partnered with BlackRock to provide its institutional clients with access to crypto trading and custody services.

The latest developments underscore how traditional institutions including pension funds, hedge funds and banks have been pushing into crypto assets lately, wagering the alternative asset class is here to stay.

Even as, the crypto sector has been battered by a slump in asset prices as investors fled risky assets amid geopolitical turmoil, inflation and worries of an impending recession.

(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru)