KEY POINTS
The investment behemoth BlackRock has recently expanded its portfolio to include a quirky array of digital assets, now holding over $40,000 in various meme coins and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). This move came to light when online detectives uncovered a wallet linked to the company’s innovative tokenization project.
On March 15, a hefty sum of $100 million in USD Coin was deposited on the Ethereum blockchain. This transaction occurred just a day after BlackRock announced its new BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund.
NTFs and Digital Currencies Deposits
Since March 19, the wallet bearing BlackRock’s name has been on the receiving end of a diverse mix of digital currencies and NFTs, sent by anonymous users. These range from the Bitcoin-derived Ordinals Pepe coin to the CryptoDickbutts S3 NFT.
The asset management giant received substantial transfers, including 500,000 unshETHing_Token and 10,000 Realio Network tokens, valued at $13,755 and $11,600, respectively. According to CoinGecko, the value of the Realio Network token increased by 47% after the transfer.
Transaction records reveal that BlackRock’s initial foray into the digital currency space began with a modest $200 USDC deposit on March 5. This was followed by a $10 trial deposit and a subsequent substantial deposit of nearly $100 million.
BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF Success
BlackRock CEO Fink’s perspective on Bitcoin and blockchain has evolved dramatically since 2017, when he labeled Bitcoin as a tool for money laundering. His stance has since shifted, leading BlackRock to launch a Bitcoin ETF in June 2023, which recently became the first spot Bitcoin ETF to reach $1 Billion AUM. Fink envisions a future where all financial assets, from stocks to bonds, will exist on a unified ledger.
