Blackrock taps Coinbase Prime to add crypto to portfolio management

Coinbase Prime integrates advanced agency trading, custody, prime financing, staking, and staking infrastructure, data, and reporting that supports the entire transaction lifecycle.

BlackRock has partnered with digital asset exchange Coinbase in order to provide institutional clients of Aladdin, BlackRock’s end-to-end investment management platform, with direct access to crypto.

The world’s largest asset manager will connect to Coinbase Prime, which will provide crypto trading, custody, prime brokerage, and reporting capabilities to Aladdin’s institutional client base, who are also clients of Coinbase.

This is a big move for the institutional adoption of crypto and is taking place as the ‘crypto winter’ smoothens following the tragic collapse of crypto lender Celsius and the DeFi protocol Terra/LUNA.

Coinbase Prime serves institutional clients including hedge funds, asset allocators, financial institutions, corporate treasuries and other institutions.

Joseph Chalom, Global Head of Strategic Ecosystem Partnerships at BlackRock, said: “Our institutional clients are increasingly interested in gaining exposure to digital asset markets and are focused on how to efficiently manage the operational lifecycle of these assets. This connectivity with Aladdin will allow clients to manage their bitcoin exposures directly in their existing portfolio management and trading workflows for a whole portfolio view of risk across asset classes.”

Coinbase Prime integrates advanced agency trading, custody, prime financing, staking, and staking infrastructure, data, and reporting that supports the entire transaction lifecycle.

The crypto exchange follows best practices in the fields of security, ensurance, and compliance to provide a full-service platform for institutionals to access crypto markets at scale.

“The Coinbase partnership between BlackRock and Aladdin is an exciting milestone for our firm. As the trusted partner enabling institutions to participate and transact in the cryptoeconomy, we are committed to pushing the industry forward and creating new access points as institutional crypto adoption continues to rapidly accelerate. We are honored to partner with an industry leader and look forward to furthering Coinbase’s goal of providing greater access and transparency to crypto”, said a Coinbase spokesperson in a statement.

The platform integration between Coinbase Prime and Blackrock will be rolled out in phases and access will be available for institutions contracted with both Aladdin and Coinbase.

Financefeeds.com