Public keys is a weekly roundup from Decrypt that tracks the key publicly traded crypto companies. This week BlackRock mints a new most-profitable ETF, S&P Global gets in the mix, and Coinbase stakes its claim on New York.
Bitcoin Rules at BlackRock
BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust has become the $12 trillion asset manager’s most profitable ETF by annualized fee revenue. As of Thursday’s close, the fund had $97 billion worth of assets under management, according to iShares.
That means the 21-month-old ETF is already generating more revenue than products that have been trading for 25 years, like the iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF and the iShares MSCI EAFE ETF.
Even without Friday’s data, the inflows for IBIT have already been higher than last week’s, coming in at $2.5 billion compared to $1.8 billion.
Analysts have been saying that institutional flows will keep recent market volatility from being too widespread, despite news that President Donald Trump plans to unleash “massive” new tariffs on goods imported from China.
The bullish honorific has done little to protect IBIT shares from sliding into the red with most other equities on Friday. Just before the closing bell on Friday, IBIT was trading for $65.85 after having lost 4% on the day.
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink foreshadowed exactly the conditions that analysts have been credited with Bitcoin’s recent rise during a Legends Live @Citi appearance in August.
“You own Bitcoin because you’re frightened of the debasement of your currency,” he said, alluding to the debasement trade that swaps Bitcoin for gold as a hedge against currency dilution. “I became a believer,” he added.
S&P Crypto Mixer
There’s crypto assets, publicly traded crypto companies, and now an S&P Global index that combines both.
S&P Global earlier this week debuted its first hybrid “Digital Markets 50” index, which will combine cryptocurrencies and crypto-related equities. At its launch, the new benchmark will track 35 publicly traded companies tied to blockchain and 15 cryptocurrencies from the S&P Cryptocurrency Broad Digital Market Index.
The Broad Digital Market index includes Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, BNB, Solana, and Tron.
The fund would give asset managers one fund through which to gain exposure to many of the largest assets related to cryptocurrencies. And it spares them from having to pick winners, too.
“Cryptocurrencies and the broader digital asset industry have moved from the margins into a more established role in global markets,” S&P Dow Jones Indices Chief Product & Operations Officer Cameron Drinkwater said, adding that the new index suite “offers market participants consistent, rules-based tools to evaluate and gain exposure.”
Excelsior, Staking
Ever upward indeed, for Coinbase staking services.
The crypto exchange has ended its years-long fight with state regulators to offer its crypto staking services to New York residents this week.
It’s not entirely clear how this happened, as a representative of the New York Department of Financial Services, which regulates the state’s crypto industry, did not immediately respond to a query from Decrypt about when a deal with Coinbase was reached on staking, or whether the crypto exchange had to fulfill any obligations to reach such an agreement.
And a Coinbase spokesperson declined to comment beyond what the company had already said publicly in a press release.
Staking will be available for Ethereum, Solana, and Cosmos, the company said. There’s been no sign yet that other crypto exchanges or companies would offer staking to New York residents.
Gemini still explicitly says its staking is not available to New York residents in its customer agreement, which was last updated in August. Kraken’s Bitcoin staking still excludes New York and a handful of other states. Crypto exchange Bitstamp, although it was acquired by U.S.-based Robinhood earlier this year, limits its staking service to Europe. The U.S. trading platform does still offer Ethereum and Solana staking, but it’s not available in NY.
So for the time being, Coinbase appears to have the New York crypto staking market to itself.
Other Keys
More for Morgan Stanley: Morgan Stanley has thrown open the gates to let all of its wealth clients have access to Bitcoin, Etheruem, and Solana through its E*Trade platform.
Miner surge: Bitcoin miners saw their shares surge at the start of the week in the wake of BTC setting a new all-time high above $125,000.
