Freshly minted bitcoin exchange-traded funds are seeing exceptionally large trading volumes since last week’s landmark debuts from BlackRock Inc (NYSE:BLK), Grayscale, Fidelity and VanEck, among others. Bloomberg data shows a total of $10 billion in trading volumes across 10 ETF products in the first three trading days, an “insane” volume, according to Bloomberg’s ETF seer Eric Balchunas. He stated on social media: “Let me put into context how insane $10b in volume is in first 3 days. There were 500 ETFs la ...

Ivan Zhaborovskiy Thesis The week that ended January 12 was an exciting one, with significant shifts in the asset management industry. On one hand, Bitcoin ETFs finally got the green light from the regulators, with a plethora of funds coming to market via numerous asset managers. Bitcoin is an expression of the new digital economy, and via this launch, it has established itself as a portfolio asset class that cannot be ignored anymore. On the other hand, 'old-school' asset classes like infrastructure, the c ...

Inflation could prove harder to conquer than many people think, Larry Fink says. The BlackRock CEO expects US economic growth to pick up if the Fed cuts rates this year. Fink says bitcoin is used for criminal activities, but has merits and serves as a store of value. NEW LOOK Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read preview Thanks for signing up! Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. ...

Bitcoin (BTC) suffered further selling pressure after the long-awaited approval in the US of spot-bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) led to a ‘sell-the-news’ situation for the world’s largest cryptocurrency. Following a surprising high-single-digit dip on Friday, a day after the likes of BlackRock Inc (NYSE:BLK), Grayscale and Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest secured permission to list the bitcoin-tracking ETFs on the stock market, the BTC/USD pair traded flat on Saturday before running 2.6% lower on Sunday. Bitc ...

A woman is showered in $100 U.S. banknotes. Deagreez To argue that the S&P 500 (SP500) has sharply rallied since its dip last October would be an understatement. Since that time, the index has gained approximately 15%. There has been perhaps no bigger beneficiary of this rally and the overall rally in 2023 than asset managers. As has been the case for many years now, BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) has been the undisputed king of the asset management industry. Overall, this is an exceptional business. An overview of ...

Vanguard Group, Inc. is one of the world’s largest investment firms, with $7.7 trillion in assets under management (AUM). The finance giant shocked the market by refusing to offer the recently approved Bitcoin ETFs to its brokerage’s customers.On January 11, Vanguard prevented its customers from gaining exposure to Bitcoin (BTC) through the now legally approved ETFs. As reported by The Block, a company’s spokesperson explained that crypto-related products do not align with its investment vision.“We also hav ...

With the fourth quarter earnings season underway, two financial investment conglomerates that are garnishing much attention are BlackRock (BLK) and Goldman Sachs ((GS). After BlackRock impressively surpassed its Q4 earnings expectations on Friday, investors are surely wondering if Goldman Sachs can do the same when it reports its quarterly results next Tuesday, January 16. With that being said, let's see if now is a good time to buy stock in either of these finance titans.BlackRock Q4 Review BlackRock poste ...

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Q4 2023 Earnings Conference Call January 12, 2023 7:30 AM ET Company Participants Laurence Fink - Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Martin Small - Chief Financial Officer Christopher Meade - General Counsel and Chief Legal Officer Robert Kapito - President Adebayo Ogunlesi - Global Infrastructure Partners, Founder and Chief Executive Officer Conference Call Participants Craig Siegenthaler - Bank of America Michael Cyprys - Morgan Stanley Michael Brown - KBW Brian Bedell - Deuts ...

Spencer PlattIntroduction The financial sector is exciting these days, with the Federal Reserve preparing to lower the interest rates. While some banks may suffer from lower rates on their loans, other institutions look forward to an increase in the valuation of assets as more capital will flow into risk assets. Investment banks and managers will likely benefit from the lower rates as money used to gain real interest in cash will flow again to stocks, bonds, and alternative assets. One leading investmen ...

KEY TAKEAWAYSBlackRock is buying Global Infrastructure Partners for approximately $12.5 billion.The acquisition will help BlackRock expands its focus on infrastructure, and is expected to close in the third quarter of 2024.The deal was announced as BlackRock released fourth-quarter results that beat forecasts and saw the firm's assets cross the $10 trillion mark.BlackRock (BLK) is buying Global Infrastructure Partners for $12.5 billion, as the world's largest asset manager expands its focus on infrastructur ...