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Bitcoin began the week higher, climbing as much as 5%, following reports that the world’s largest asset manager was considering a push into the digital-currency market.
The Financial News reported Monday that BlackRock, which has more than $6 trillion under management, has put together a team to explore potential investments in digital currencies and blockchain, the underlying technology that drives cryptocurrencies.
Cryptocurrencies are in the midst of a tough run, with bitcoin, the worlds largest digital currency, down more than 50% year to date as it grapples with widespread adoption. A move by BlackRock would be a major coup for proponents.
“It makes sense given recent market action,” said Mati Greenspan, senior market analyst at eToro. “In November as prices were moving higher firms like the Cboe CBOE, +0.81% were in a rush to get on the train, but now that things have quieted down, traditional investment firms are beginning to dip their toes into the space.”
While the asset management firm may be exploring ways to get exposure to the nascent technology, BlackRock’s CEO Larry Fink said he hasn’t seen the enthusiasm from the client side. “I don’t believe any client has sought out crypto exposure,” Fink said on Bloomberg Television Monday.
The news pushed the price of bitcoin BTCUSD, -0.15% above $6,500, trading to an intraday high of $6,698.35. A single bitcoin last changed hands at $6,663.09, up 4.6% since Sunday 5 p.m. Eastern Time on the Kraken crypto exchange.
CFTC issues further advisory to potential virtual currency investors
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued a customer advisory to investors who are entertaining the thought of investing in virtual coins and tokens. It is the fourth such advisory from the regulatory body.
Among others, the CFTC listed factors such as the potential for a fork, changing mining costs, hacking and liquidity that investors should consider before allocating capital.
“This advisory is part of the CFTC’s education and outreach efforts to help educate and inform market participants, who, given the pace of technology-driven change, will increasingly come in contact with new financial products and services,” said Erica Elliott Richardson, director of the Office of Public Affairs and Office of Customer Education and Outreach in a press release.
Market cap on the move higher
Bitcoin has dragged altcoins, alternative coins to bitcoin, higher. The value of all cryptocurrencies have increased $13 billion to $269 billion, according to data from CoinMarketCap., but they are down sharply from their peak earlier in the year.
Ether ETHUSD, +0.07% the coin that runs on the Ethereum network, is up 5.1% at $475.52, Bitcoin Cash BCHUSD, -0.18% has gained 9.6% to $795.10, Litecoin LTCUSD, +0.11% is up 4.8% at $82.94 and Ripple’s XRP XRPUSD, +0.76% coin is trading at 47 cents, up 5.2%.
Bitcoin futures have outperformed. The Cboe July bitcoin futures contract XBTN8, +7.47% finished Monday up 7.2% at $6,670, while the CME July contract BTCN8, +8.03% closed up 8.3% at $6,675.