By Investing.com Staff
Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) and BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) are partnering to provide institutional investors access to crypto, starting with bitcoin, it was announced Thursday.
Institutional clients of Aladdin, BlackRock’s end-to-end investment management platform, will have direct access to crypto through connectivity with Coinbase Prime, which will provide crypto trading, custody, prime brokerage, and reporting capabilities. Users will need to be clients of Aladdin and Coinbase.
“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,” said Joseph Chalom, Global Head of Strategic Ecosystem Partnerships at BlackRock.
Crypto exchange Coinbase and investment manager BlackRock said they will work to progress the platform integration and will roll out functionality in phases to interested clients.
Coinbase shares surged over 25% in early Thursday trading following the news.