Category: forex

BlackRock launched its iShares Bitcoin ETP across Europe, expanding its crypto offerings beyond the US.

BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, launched a Bitcoin exchange-traded product (ETP) on multiple European stock exchanges.

The iShares Bitcoin ETP began trading on March 25 on Xetra, Euronext Amsterdam and Euronext Paris, according to BlackRock’s product page. The launch follows the success of its iShares Bitcoin Trust exchange-traded fund (ETF), which dominates the US market with $50.7 billion of assets under management, accounting for about 2.73% of the total Bitcoin (BTC) supply.

Stephen Wundke, director of strategy and revenue at crypto investment firm Algoz, told Cointelegraph that “the availability of the iShares Bitcoin ETP may not have the same reaction across Europe” as it saw in the US:

“Quality investment products through regulated asset managers have been more available throughout Europe than in the US, and secondly, Bitcoin is also more easily purchased. […] However,

the ability for traditional family offices across Europe to hold a small percentage of their asset base in ‘digital gold’ is no doubt a good thing. […] Just don’t expect $60 billion of purchases in the first quarter.”
Product details and fee structure
The new ETP trades under the IB1T ticker on Xetra and Euronext Paris, while on Euronext Amsterdam it uses BTCN. Bloomberg previously reported that the company was preparing to launch the new product, which followed the firm’s launch of a Bitcoin ETF on CBOE Canada.

According to Bloomberg, the product launched with a temporary fee waiver of 10 basis points, which decreases the expense ratio to 0.15% until the end of 2025. Europe’s top crypto ETP is the CoinShares Physical Bitcoin ETP, which currently charges 0.25%, making BlackRock’s offering considerably cheaper while the waiver is in place.

“There is no doubt BlackRock’s aggressive fee structure was designed to keep competitors out of the market and question the commitment of any new entrants,” Wundke said.

Wundke added that “this type of competition is good for investors and ultimately good for digital currencies,” highlighting that players in the market will have to compete to provide the best offering to investors.

iShares expanding to Europe
This is BlackRock’s first issuance of a crypto ETP outside of North America. Manuela Sperandeo, BlackRock’s head of Europe and Middle East iShares Product, told Bloomberg:

“[This launch] reflects what really could be seen as a tipping point in the industry — the combination of established demand from retail investors with more professionals now really getting into the fold.”

Ajay Dhingra, head of research at decentralized exchange aggregator Unizen, told Cointelegraph that the move reflects BlackRock’s confidence in the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation framework:

“From Trump to Biden and now Trump again, US digital asset policy has been largely inconsistent. In contrast, the EU has steadily embraced compliant blockchain adoption — offering the regulatory stability companies are looking for.”

A recent BlackRock earnings report showed that the firm managed over $11.55 trillion on average during the fourth quarter of 2024. Other than the top Bitcoin ETF, the firm also launched its Grayscale Ethereum Trust ETF — the top Ether (ETH) ETF, with $3.46 billion in assets under management.

Pakistan seeks to embrace cryptocurrencies as the world pivots toward digital assets following a policy overhaul in the United States.

Bilal Bin Saqib, the CEO of Pakistan’s Crypto Council, has proposed using the country’s runoff energy to fuel Bitcoin
BTC
$84,678
mining at the Crypto Council’s inaugural meeting on March 21.

According to an article from The Nation, the council is exploring comprehensive regulatory frameworks for cryptocurrencies to attract foreign direct investment and establish Pakistan as a crypto hub.

The meeting included lawmakers, the Bank of Pakistan’s governor, the chairman of Pakistan’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SECP), and the federal information technology secretary. Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb had this to say about the meeting:

“This is the beginning of a new digital chapter for our economy. We are committed to building a transparent, future-ready financial ecosystem that attracts investment, empowers our youth, and puts Pakistan on the global map as a leader in emerging technologies.”

The Crypto Council represents a radical departure from the government of Pakistan’s previous stance on crypto. In May 2023, former minister of state for finance and revenue, Aisha Ghaus Pasha said crypto would never be legal in the country.

Pasha cited anti-money laundering restrictions under the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) as the primary motivation for the government’s anti-crypto stance.

Pakistan follows the United States in embracing crypto
The government of Pakistan moved to regulate cryptocurrencies as legal tender on Nov. 4, 2024 — the same day as the elections in the United States.

Following the re-election of Donald Trump in the US and the Jan. 20 inauguration, Trump moved quickly to establish pro-crypto policies at the federal level.

On Jan. 23, President Trump signed an executive order establishing the Working Group on Digital Assets — an executive advisory council tasked with exploring comprehensive regulatory reform on digital assets.

The Jan. 23 order also prohibited the government from researching, developing, or issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC).

President Trump also signed an executive order creating a Bitcoin strategic reserve and a separate digital asset stockpile in March 2025 that will likely include cryptocurrencies made by US-based firms.

Spot Bitcoin ETF inflows can have a delayed effect on the BTC price, which takes a couple of days to materialize, according to market analysts.

The Bitcoin price has yet to cross the $70,000 mark despite last week’s record milestone for spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

On Oct. 17, the US-based spot Bitcoin
BTC
$102,260
ETFs crossed $20 billion in total net flows, just 10 months after their debut. This same milestone took gold ETFs nearly five years to achieve.

BTC rose to an almost three-month high of $69,487 on Oct. 21, before pulling back to trade at $68,570 as of 8:25 am UTC, according to Cointelegraph data.

The sluggish price action may be due to the delayed effect of ETF inflows, which can take a few days to impact the spot BTC price, according to Bitfinex analysts.

The ask-heavy order book suggests that crypto traders are using ETF flows as exit liquidity for their trades, the analysts told Cointelegraph:

“Usually, this means that large ETF inflows have a muted impact for a few days and then the market reverses lower once the aggression from spot market buyers fades.

We need sustained spot market interest to push price out of the current range-bound price action.”
Positive ETF inflows could help the Bitcoin price reach an all-time high.

By Feb. 15, just one month after they launched, United States-based spot BTC ETFs accounted for about 75% of new investment in the cryptocurrency, which had surpassed the $50,000 mark at the time.

BlackRock ETF tops inflows with $1.17 billion
Bitcoin ETFs have had limited immediate impact on the price, with several days often passing before inflows generate bullish momentum, Bitfinex analysts said:

“Despite the significant inflows into Bitcoin ETFs, particularly into the BlackRock and Fidelity funds, the price impact has been muted on several instances on days when net inflows exceeded $500 million worth of BTC.”
During the past week, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF brought in over $1.17 billion worth of Bitcoin, noted onchain intelligence firm Lookonchain in an Oct. 21 X post.

Bitifnex analysts explained that a percentage of last week’s ETF inflows could also be part of a delta-neutral trading strategy, another reason their price impact might be muted.

Bitcoin nudges bullish weekly candle close
In an optimistic signal for price action, Bitcoin managed to perform a green weekly close above the psychological mark of $69,000.

This could set Bitcoin up for a rally to retest the reaccumulation range of above $71,000 for the first time since June 2024, wrote crypto analyst Rekt Capital in an Oct. 20 X post, accompanied by the chart below.

Bitcoin could also see more positive ETF inflows bolstered by the first Bitcoin ETF options in the US, which the Securities and Exchange Commission approved on Oct. 18.