- BlackRock's CEO considers an ether ETF part of the route to tokenization
- SEC will postpone its decision on several Ethereum ETFs until May
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink declared support for an Ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF) just two days after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved 11 highly anticipated Bitcoin ETFs, CoinDesk reported, citing a CNBC interview with Fink. In the interview, Fink said he saw “value in having an Ethereum ETF,” adding that he considered it part of the route to tokenization.
On Thursday, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust was one of multiple ETFs to open for trading on the US market. iShares was also the ETF with the most valuable transactions, accounting for around $1 billion of the ETFs’ collective trading volume of $4.6 billion.
The prospects of an Ethereum ETF
An ether-denominated ETF seems like the logical next step after recent market developments involving ETFs denominated in the flagship crypto. However, the problem is regulators again. On December 19, Bankless Times reported on a filing by the SEC, in which the watchdog announced it would postpone its decision on several Ethereum ETFs until May 2024.
More specifically, the regulator decided to delay its decision on the Grayscale Ethereum ETF and the Hashdex Nasdaq Ethereum ETF. The latter is hardly a surprise, as Hashdex was the only Bitcoin ETF applicant not given the green light to start offering spot Bitcoin trading. Its product is still futures-based.
BlackRock’s take on tokenization
BlackRock is considering listing an exchange-traded product for ether as part of its goal to achieve tokenization. According to Fink, tokenization can eliminate financial crimes such as money laundering.
The CEO of the world’s largest asset manager sees cryptocurrency as an asset class, comparing it to gold. According to him, Bitcoin can protect holders from the consequences of geopolitical cataclysms, just like gold. He believes Bitcoin represents what gold did millennia ago.
