Investment giant BlackRock has secured its place as the 51st firm on the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority crypto registry, marking another victory in its aggressive expansion into digital assets. The approval allows the world’s largest asset manager to arrange transactions for crypto products like ETPs, though certain restrictions apply. No new clients. No auto-converting crypto to cash. Not without the FCA’s blessing first.
BlackRock joins the FCA’s exclusive crypto club—but with leashes attached and regulators holding the other end.
This isn’t just another checkbox for BlackRock’s compliance department. The FCA registry is famously picky—only 14% of applicants make the cut. That’s 51 approvals out of 368 attempts since 2020. Brutal. Companies like Coinbase and Kraken survived the gauntlet too, but BlackRock’s entry hits different.
The timing couldn’t be more calculated. Just days before the approval, BlackRock launched its iShares Bitcoin ETP in European markets. Coincidence? Yeah, right. The company’s U.S. Bitcoin ETF has already vacuumed up nearly $49 billion in assets, with about $40 billion flowing in since launch. They’re not playing around.
For the UK, this approval aligns perfectly with its post-Brexit dreams of becoming a global fintech powerhouse. BlackRock brings legitimacy. It brings institutional money. It brings that warm fuzzy feeling regulators get when a “responsible adult” enters the room.
But not everyone’s celebrating. Smaller crypto firms are watching nervously as the behemoth rolls into town. How do you compete with BlackRock’s endless resources? Their brand recognition? Their army of suits who speak regulator-ese fluently?
The approval allows BlackRock to target UK institutional investors with products like the physically-backed Bitcoin ETP, though retail investors remain off-limits under current regulations. Coinbase provides custody services for the European product, mimicking their U.S. arrangement.
BlackRock’s entry into the exclusive FCA club sends a clear message: crypto is going mainstream, whether the early adopters like it or not. The suits have arrived, and they’re not leaving. With the global cryptocurrency ecosystem now encompassing over 21,000 cryptocurrencies, BlackRock’s strategic positioning gives it significant influence in a rapidly expanding market.
