BlackRock invests $384m in Bitcoin mining firms

One of the world’s largest financial institutions – BlackRock (BLK) – has revealed major investments of $384m through its ETFs in cryptocurrency mining companies.

The sizeable share-holdings were revealed in a filing submitted to the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) on July 20.

Bitcoin (BTC) seems to have become the main focus of the $9 trillion multinational investment manager, and this doesn’t just apply to Bitcoin mining companies..

Aside from BlackRock’s $207m (6.71%) stake in Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA) and $176m (6.61%) of Riot Blockchain (RIOT), the financial company has also been exploring crypto futures.

Cryptocurrency mining stocks appear as an attractive way for investors to increase their portfolio’s exposure to the crypto industry without indulging in spot digital assets or risky ETF trading.

This view clearly has merit as shown when we compare Bitcoin’s 280% growth during the past 12 bullish months, which pales in comparison to crypto mining stock profits, with Marathon’s stock surging  754% and Riot’s picking up a 848% gain.

As crypto boosts the firm’s revenues, it has been looking elsewhere to pick up returns for investors, with BlackRock ETFs trading large volumes of Bitcoin futures contracts.

Back in January, BlackRock filed an application with the SEC in an effort to allow two of its funds to purchase BTC futures. By July, it became clear that the SEC had approved the move as the firm’s Global Allocation Fund revealed that it had bought more than 35 BTC futures contracts from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

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As with any investment, it pays to do some homework before you part with your money. The prices of cryptocurrencies are volatile and go up and down quickly. This page is not recommending a particular currency or whether you should invest or not.