BlackRock’s SEC Power Play: Staking, Tokenization, and ETF Rule Talks Revealed

Wall Street’s $10 trillion gorilla just sat down with regulators—and crypto’s future was on the menu. BlackRock’s closed-door SEC meeting exposed three explosive agenda items: staking mechanics, real-world asset tokenization, and the ever-elusive ETF approval process.

Sources confirm the asset manager pushed for clearer frameworks—because nothing says ’institutional adoption’ like begging permission to innovate. Meanwhile, SEC chair Gary Gensler reportedly doodled ’How to regulate DeFi’ on his notepad before realizing it was a lost cause.

Bonus jab: Nothing accelerates regulatory clarity like a financial behemoth threatening to eat your lunch. The crypto revolution will be privatized—at a 2% management fee.

Meeting details

The meeting covered a broad range of topics central to BlackRock’s expanding digital asset strategy. Executives provided an overview of the firm’s crypto-related products, including the iShares Bitcoin Trust, the iShares ethereum Trust, and the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund.

They also discussed regulatory considerations for staking, particularly how exchange-traded products with staking capabilities could be structured under current rules. 

The discussion centered on the tokenization of securities and how it fits within the federal securities regulatory framework, along with approval standards for crypto ETFs and compliance under the Exchange Act, according to the memo.

Additionally, they explored options for crypto ETPs, including position and exercise limits and liquidity thresholds for the underlying digital assets.

The meeting comes as Bitcoin surpassed $100,000 for the first time since February, riding a wave of optimism following a U.S.-U.K. trade agreement and broader crypto market gains.