BlackRock’s $5.4B Bitcoin Bet Exposed in Latest Filing

Wall Street’s quiet crypto accumulation just got loud. BlackRock’s SEC filing reveals a staggering $5.4 billion stake in Bitcoin-related assets—because nothing says ’hedge against inflation’ like parking billions in the digital equivalent of a volatile startup.

The world’s largest asset manager continues playing both sides: publicly cautious on crypto, privately stacking BTC exposure. Classic Wall Street doublespeak meets digital gold rush.

Meanwhile, retail investors still get nickel-and-dimed on transaction fees. Some things never change.

BlackRock holds mining stocks, Bitcoin ETFs

BlackRock also has over $1.02 billion in various Bitcoin mining stocks, including Riot Platforms, Marathon Digital, and others. These companies don’t make holding Bitcoin their business model, but because Bitcoin is the main source of their revenue, they correlate significantly with BTC’s price.

Finally, BlackRock has $279 million exposure to various Bitcoin exchange-traded funds and trusts. Most of these funds are in the iShares Bitcoin Trust, where BlackRock has invested $274 million. The iShares ETF is one that BlackRock itself owns and operates, and currently has $47.78 billion in net assets.

BlackRock also has a smaller $5 million exposure to Fidelity’s Bitcoin ETF, and very small positions in the Grayscale BTC Trust and GBTC Mini, at just $13,034 and $1,460 respectively.

Form 13F is a quarterly report by investment managers, specifically those with over $100 million in assets under management. It includes all investments in U.S. publicly traded securities.

This means that BlackRock’s exposure to Bitcoin-related assets might be even larger. Additional exposure could come from private companies and publicly traded firms in other countries.