This partnership may just be the bridge to spur the crypto markets. The world’s largest asset manager Blackrock will now have direct access to crypto, starting with Bitcoin, through the connectivity with Coinbase Prime for their institutional clients of Aladdin®.

Coinbase Prime will provide crypto trading, custody, prime brokerage, and reporting capabilities to Aladdin’s Institutional client base who are also clients of Coinbase.

Currently, Coinbase Prime is the leading institutional prime broker platform for crypto assets, trusted by over 13,000 institutional clients.

Institutions, such as Blackrock, can access Coinbase Prime directly via a user interface or as an integrated platform via APIs to offer crypto-related products such as ETPs and ETFs, custodial solutions, or brokerage for institutional, private wealth, and retail clients.

“Our institutional clients are increasingly interested in gaining exposure to digital asset markets and are focused on how to efficiently manage the operational lifecycle of these assets,” Joseph Chalom, global head of strategic ecosystem partnerships at BlackRock, said in the blog post.

This is a game changer, the partnership between the two is a monumental one. There are plenty of institutions in the game, but none of this magnitude. Not only will this shed a brighter light on crypto investing but now competing institutions would want to get involved in taking a slice of the pie.

This integration comes four months after BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said the firm would explore ways to offer digital assets to its clients, confirming continued interest by institutional investors in the cryptocurrency industry.

Closing thoughts

For years, any collaborations between traditional finance companies along with crypto are something anyone would never imagine. But in recent years, institutional involvement in crypto is becoming more prevalent.

As it will always start with Bitcoin, as seen with Microstrategy and Tesla’s accumulating Bitcoin, I foresee the involvement of institutions and other large corporations trickling down towards various articles in crypto, like NFTs, the Metaverse and DeFi.

We seen massive developments in DeFi lending protocol Compound and the rise in derivatives trading in Crypto with the lights of dYdX and GMX entering the scene, both of which, institutions have vast experience and knowledge. Although at first sight, DeFi looks to “overthrow” the TradFi space, now there is a rising trend of both industries having overlapping interests with many collaborations.

[Editor’s Note: This article does not represent financial advice. Please do your own research before investing.]

Featured Image Credit: Delphi Digital

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