BlackRock’s Crypto Power Play: SEC Meeting Sparks Market Speculation

Wall Street’s $10 trillion gorilla sat down with regulators yesterday—and crypto markets are already pricing in the implications.

Behind closed doors: BlackRock’s high-stakes meeting with the SEC’s crypto task force on May 9th could signal a watershed moment for institutional adoption. Sources confirm the asset manager pushed for clearer regulatory frameworks.

The subtext? BlackRock doesn’t waste time on courtesy calls. This comes just weeks after their surprise Bitcoin ETF filing—because nothing greases the wheels of bureaucracy like $9.5 trillion in assets under management.

Market makers are betting this meeting bypasses the usual regulatory gridlock. Meanwhile, retail traders are left parsing tea leaves—welcome to the ’free’ market.

• BlackRock has heavily invested in RWA tokenization to connect TradeFi and DeFi seamlessly.

• The U.S. SEC has a huge backlog of crypto ETFs applications but has been waiting for regulatory greenlight from the Congress.

BlackRock Inc. (NYSE: BLK), a top-tier fund manager with over $10 trillion in assets under management (AUM), has made significant entry into the blockchain space and the wider digital asset industry. The New York headquartered investment management firm has made clear intentions to tokenize the U.S equity securities market on major blockchains.

Furthermore, BlackRock intends to scale its operations globally to all investors seeking to tap into traditional financial products through the web3. Already, BlackRock has succeeded in launching two spot crypto ETFs, including Bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH).

At the time of this writing, BlackRock’s IBIT had a cumulative net cash inflow of about $44 billion, thus currently managing about $62.91 billion in net assets. Meanwhile, BlackRock’s ETHA had recorded a net cumulative cash inflow of about $4.2 billion since inception, thus currently managing about $2.6 billion.

BlackRock Seeks Further Crypto Regulatory Guidance from the U.S. SEC 

On Friday, May 9, BlackRock met with the U.S. SEC crypto Task Force and sought guidance on crypto staking, RWA tokenization, ETF approval standards, and options on ETFs. Furthermore, under SEC Chair Paul Atkins, BlackRock is well-positioned to have more crypto products approved in the near term.

The crypto staking feature WOULD provide BlackRock’s investors more avenues to earn more profits. BlackRock discussed with the SEC’s Crypto Task Force the perspectives on treatment of staking, including consolidation for facilitating ETPs with staking capabilities.

As for the crypto ETP approval standards, BlackRock and the SEC’s Crypto Task Force discussed specific factors and regulations that may be applied in approval of ETPs.