BlackRock Officially Launches Bitcoin ETP in the UK

BlackRock has officially been approved by the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as a crypto asset firm

BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, has officially been approved by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as a crypto asset firm in the UK.

The firm, which manages around $12 trillion in assets, is now 51st on the FCA’s register of crypto asset companies in Britain. This follows a period of administrative backlog at the FCA, which has seen it approve only a small fraction of the firms that applied.

Earlier this year, the FCA confirmed that it will reject submissions that do not have enough critical information or are not of a good standard.

BlackRock’s approval comes as no surprise, given its successful launch of a spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States earlier in 2024.

The iShares Bitcoin ETP has begun trading in European markets, following the successful debut of the U.S. ETF, which quickly became the largest in the country with over $47 billion in assets under management during its first year.

In total, U.S. Bitcoin ETFs have attracted over $107 billion in their inaugural year, the fastest rate of growth seen for any ETF product.

Announced last week, the iShares Bitcoin ETP has been listed on Euronext Paris and Amsterdam stock exchanges.

To make it more appealing to investors, the ETP launched with a fee waiver of 10 basis points, lowering its expense ratio to 0.15% until the end of the year. After the waiver expires, the fee will increase to 0.25%, which will align it with other products like the CoinShares Bitcoin ETP.

The new ETP is available to both institutional investors and "informed' retail investors, marking a major step for BlackRock in broadening its crypto asset portfolio and increasing accessibility to Bitcoin investments in Europe.

The move also highlights the firm’s growing role in the cryptocurrency space.

Earlier in 2024, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink issued a stark warning that Bitcoin could eventually overtake the U.S. dollar if the U.S. does not address its national debt.

As regulators and investors continue to warm to cryptocurrency, the stage is set for BlackRock to play a leading role in the evolving world of digital assets.