BlackRock outlines vision for crypto-TradFi convergence as product pipeline grows

BlackRock's digital assets under management fell significantly during the second quarter amid a broad downturn across crypto, specifically BTC and ETH, but the Wall Street giant's onchain ambitions don't appear to have shrunk.Besides reiterating its $500-million revenue target for its crypto-related businesses by 2030, the firm's CFO Martin Small laid out a strategy that demonstrates BlackRock has a significant appetite when it comes to utilizing blockchain technology, tokenization, and stablecoins."Over the longer term, we want BlackRock's products to be accessible natively, where many investors already hold digital assets," Small said Wednesday during an earnings call with analysts, adding that the firm wants to make it so "investors never need to leave digital wallets to allocate efficiently across crypto, stablecoins, and exposure to long-term stocks and bonds."BlackRock released its second-quarter earnings, showing that its total for digital assets under management had declined to $49 billion, down about 40% from a year earlier when both the price of bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) were trading at higher prices. Despite the decline in crypto AUM, the market reacted favorably to BlackRock's financial results, with the firm's shares rising over 7% during morning trading.BlackRock manages the world's largest spot Bitcoin ETF, the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT), which has an AUM of about $60 billion.BlackRock to tokenize Treasurys and private marketsSmall went on to provide more detail about the types of long-term investments BlackRock wants to eventually offer onchain, saying the firm was looking at offering tokenized "Treasury funds, iShares ETFs, and even private markets."The BlackRock executive pointed out that the firm recently filed with the SEC for two tokenized money market funds. The proposed products would allow investors to subscribe to or redeem their investment with stablecoins across multiple blockchains. He said the products are designed to bring BlackRock's cash management offerings directly into the digital asset ecosystem."They reinforce our broader ambition to help connect traditional capital markets and tokenized assets," said Small.Small's comments came as the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. is set to conduct its first limited production trades of tokenized stocks and Treasurys on Wednesday.Additionally, last month, BlackRock launched the iShares Bitcoin Premium Income ETF (BITA), a fund that provides investors with exposure to bitcoin while generating monthly option premium income.Diving deeper into stablecoins, Small said BlackRock manages "$60 billion of reserves for Circle, representing about [one-quarter] of the $300 billion stablecoin market." He said BlackRock aims "to be the stablecoin reserve manager of choice in the industry."Overall, BlackRock sees tokenization and digital assets as a major long-term growth opportunity and an increasingly important distribution channel for its investment products."When we talk about tokenized assets, tokenized assets are the spear tip into an entirely new distribution channel," the CFO added. "Accessing an entire new class of investor, it's a pure organic growth opportunity for BlackRock."Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.© 2026 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.