BlackRock’s head of digital assets, Robert Mitchnick, stated that the $14 trillion asset manager will stick to a cautious approach with its crypto ETFs, even as it launched a staking-focused Ether ETF on Thursday.
Speaking on CNBC’s Crypto World on Friday, Mitchnick noted that while some “exotic” ETF structures being explored by other asset managers may appeal to certain investors, BlackRock plans to remain measured:
“Will we see some more exotic structures coming into the space? I think no question. Some of those will be interesting. Some of them will resonate with investors.”
He added, however, that BlackRock will take a discerning approach when considering any future expansions in the crypto ETF space.
Mitchnick noted that while investor demand is strongest for Bitcoin (BTC $71,029) and Ether (ETH $2,090), BlackRock is also observing “pockets of interest in some of the other assets as well.”
“We continue to evaluate those as conditions evolve and as maturity, liquidity scale and use cases develop, but we take a very discerning approach in terms of what we would put in an iShares ETF.”
BlackRock launched the iShares Staked Ethereum Trust (ETHB) on Thursday, recording over $15.5 million in trading volume and $43.5 million in inflows on its debut, according to Farside Investors data.
ETHB allows investors to earn yield through Ethereum staking rewards in addition to potential price appreciation of Ether. This marks BlackRock’s second Ether product, following the iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA), which has amassed nearly $12 billion in inflows since its launch in July 2024.
BlackRock plans Bitcoin income-generating ETF
BlackRock is also developing a Bitcoin Premium Income ETF, which would sell covered call options on Bitcoin futures to generate yield from premiums. However, regular distributions from this product would limit upside potential compared with iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), which tracks Bitcoin’s spot price.
Regarding IBIT, Mitchnick highlighted that its investors tend to be long-term buy-and-hold participants, even during periods of heavy selling elsewhere in the Bitcoin market.
“They’ve tended to opportunistically buy the dips,” Mitchnick said of IBIT investors, which have contributed over $63 billion in inflows since the ETF’s launch in January 2024.
