On Thursday it was reported that BlackRock allocated over $382 million to shares of Marathon Digital Holdings & Riot Blockchain. Forbes discovered an SEC filing dated 30 June 2021, which shows that Blackrock, with over $9 trillion in assets under management, bought significant shares of the Bitcoin mining companies.
Blackrock’s investment stakes 6.71% ($206,791,012.04) in Marathon Digital Holdings and 6.61% ($176,170,991.04) in Riot Blockchain, making it the second largest stakeholder in both companies after Vanguard Group, according to Forbes.
The shares are spread between over 100 mutual funds and hundreds of Blackrock’s ETFs and board indexes.
On August 10 it was reported that multinational financial services corporation Fidelity Investments had also purchased a 7.4% stake in the prominent North American Bitcoin mining operator Marathon Digital Holding.
Earlier this year, Rick Rieder, BlackRock’s chief investment officer of global fixed income and head of the global allocation team, said that “Bitcoin is an interesting asset,” said Rieder. “I think it’s durable. I think it will be part of the investment arena for years to come.”
The move speaks to the sudden influx of traditionally conservative financial institutions leveling up their exposure to Bitcoin through traditional equity, and other traditional investment vehicles such as Grayscale Bitcoin Trust.
Indeed, BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, and Viridi Funds all recently filed for or began to offer investment vehicles tied to Bitcoin ETFs.
In January, Blackrock filed with the SEC to include cash-settled Bitcoin futures for the BlackRock Global Allocation Fund, and the BlackRock Strategic Income Opportunities Portfolio, according to Forbes.
Notably, BlackRock’s investment comes after American Bitcoin mining companies are expected to profit from China’s mining ban and the subsequent drop and global reallocation of hashing power.