- BlackRock expands the authorized participants (APs) for its spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF).
- The success of iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) ensnared more Wall Street powerhouses in its ecosystem, including Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Citadel, and UBS.
BlackRock Spot Bitcoin ETF Adds 5 APs
The institutional adoption of Bitcoin continues as more titans in the financial sector are now aggressively taking a heavy exposure of the digital asset in their portfolios. Following the unprecedented success of IBIT, big names like Goldman Sachs & Co, Citigroup Global Markets, Citadel Securities, and UBS Securities have triumphantly negotiated their way into becoming APs for BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF. Alongside these popular names was the ABN AMRO clearing house based on the filing of the largest asset manager to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Thursday, April 4.
The addition of these five institutions increases the total APs of the BlackRock spot Bitcoin ETF to nine. The old ones included Jane Street Capital, JP Morgan Securities, Macquarie Capital, and Virtu Americas.
According to BlackRock, an AP is a financial institution that’s essential in creating liquidity for an ETF. It is often a bank that manages the creation and redemption of the supply of shares in the market to bring back stability in times of a shortage or surplus. The process keeps the ETF’s price synchronized with the value of its underlying securities.
The Shocking Entry of Goldman Sachs
The inclusion of Goldman Sachs was as surprising as the participation of JP Morgan in the IBIT ecosystem. Barely a week ago, the bank’s chief investment officer under its Wealth Management Unit, Sharmin Mossavar-Rahmani, was just bashing Bitcoin.
The Goldman Sachs exec tore through BTC’s apparent lack of intrinsic value. She told The Wall Street Journal, “We do not think it is an investment asset class.”
“We’re not believers in crypto,” she added before the explosive news about their massive Bitcoin exposure via IBIT came.
Similarly, JP Morgan, another AP of BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF, had its CEO Jamie Dimon always lashing out at the largest digital asset by market cap. His latest tirades included a statement saying he would shut down Bitcoin if he were the government because it has been the hotpot of illicit activities such as money laundering over the years. He likewise called people who borrow money to buy BTC “fools.”
These somehow echo the same arguments raised by BlackRock CEO Larry Fink when he repeatedly referred to Bitcoin as the “index of money laundering” before making a sharp U-turn when they finally decided to enter the spot Bitcoin ETF market. By far, the solid performance of IBIT has made a believer out of the BlackRock boss as it became the fastest-growing ETF in history, far surpassing his expectations.