Crypto On BlackRock’s Radar? The Trillion Asset Manager Announces Its Overhaul And Shift To Alternatives

Global investment management BlackRock appears to be undergoing a major overhaul, shifting its focus to possible opportunities growth opportunities in regions across the world, Bloomberg reports.

It appears that the firm wishes to strengthen its hold on the market outside America, where most of its revenue is generated. This change will include giving regional leaders and divisions more responsibilities and hiring new members to alternative investment divisions.

Kyle Sanders, an equity analyst at Edward Jones, told Bloomberg,

It shows how hard it is to find growth here in the U.S., where the market is saturated. It’s time to take that strategy and that playbook from the U.S. and try to deploy it in other regions.

CEO Larry Fink is all set to pass the mantle of leadership to someone else, though no formal decision has been made. The change in BlackRock’s vision seems quite comprehensive – and may include digital assets.

Though the inclusion of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies as investment vehicles is still a rumour at the moment, there is one positive sign that they may indeed be considering digital assets.

Robbie Mitchnick, formerly a member of the product marketing team at Ripple, has joined BlackRock as part of its Digital Wealth team, which is as good a sign as any that BlackRock is thinking of diversifying its options.

Mitchnick and Susan Athey, a professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and member of Ripple’s Board of Directors, published a paper last year that made an attempt to accurately value cryptocurrencies, focusing on bitcoin (BTC) and XRP. At the time the expected value range for bitcoin was $13,800 – $28,100, and $1.59 – $8.23 for XRP.

However, they note that the value could be near zero for both tokens, or much higher.

At any rate, having such a large asset management firm onboard an individual with experience in the digital assets space gives some indication of the progress the space is making. Many other financial firms, like Morgan Creek and Fidelity Investments, have already made their crypto interests clear. As of December 2018, BlackRock is the world’s largest asset management firm, handling roughly $6 trillion worth of assets.