BlackRock CEO extols the value of Ethereum ETF

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13 Jan 2024

After the Bitcoin spot ETF proposal was approved, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink continued to make comments praising the value of having an Ethereum spot ETF.

In an interview with CNBC that took place on January 12, 2024, CEO Larry Finkbelong to BlackRock- Wall Street's leading financial giant - said the company sees high value in establishing an Ethereum ETF, and believes these are just stepping stones towards tokenization - the process of digitization real world assets(Real World Asset)- to eliminate problems related to money laundering or corruption.

Mr. Larry Fink also stated that he does not consider cryptocurrency a currency but an asset class, specifically mentioning Bitcoin as "an asset that protects you" amid concerns about geopolitical risks.

"It is no different from what gold has represented for thousands of years. Unlike gold, we are almost at a ceiling on the amount of Bitcoin that can be created."

Notably, the statement of the head of BlackRock took place just 1 day after The US Securities Commission (SEC) officially awake passed all 11 Bitcoin spot ETF proposalsof Wall Street giants including BlackRock, marking a historic event with the hope of bringing traditional finance money flowing into the cryptocurrency industry.

In November 2023, BlackRock has also applied to establish an Ethereum spot ETF with the name "iShares Ethereum Trust" according to filing S-1. Other Wall Street giants are VanEck, ARK Invest, Grayscale, Hashdex, Invesco, Fidelityalso took the opportunity of SEC approval ETF Bitcoin spot to open offers Ethereum spot ETF, causing the market to flock to Ethereum (ETH)and "pillar" tokens in this ecosystem.

Ethereum spot ETF proposals are pending SEC approval. Source: Bloomberg (November 30, 2023)

BlackRock is one of the world's leading asset management companies, so their moves affect the financial and cryptocurrency markets. CEO Fink also used tospeak well of BitcoinAfter announcing the proposal to establish an ETF of this currency in June 2023, BlackRock's comments can therefore be seen as an expected stepping stone for the SEC's approval of the Ethereum spot ETF in the future, especially when the securities commission has Approval for Ethereum futures ETF series in early October 2023.

Immediately after the news, ETH price reacted positively, increasing slightly more than 2% from $2,618 to $2,667. In the last 7 days, it has increased by 18% as investors shifted their expectations for an ETF to the world's second largest cryptocurrency, sometimes reaching 2,689 USD - the highest sinceLUNA - UST collapseearly May 2022. The growth of ETH alsofollowed by many leading tokensin the Ethereum ecosystem.

15m chart of the ETH/USDT pair on Binance at 07:35 PM on January 12, 2024