BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager with approximately $11.6 trillion in assets under management, has executed a significant purchase of 2055 BTC, valued at approximately $172.1 million.
The transaction follows their recent purchase of 2,600 BTC on March 18, valued at $218.1 million, indicating a relentless pace of investment.
According to treasuries.bitbo.io, the firm’s total Bitcoin holdings were 570,582 BTC as of March 19, over 2.7% of Bitcoin’s total supply, which is set to 21 million coins. With today’s acquisition, that number climbs to 572,637 BTC, strengthening BlackRock’s position as the pre-eminent spot Bitcoin ETF provider.
Bitcoin faces resistance at $87,500
The latest attempt by Bitcoin’s price to topple $87,500 has fallen short. It is coming up against serious resistance, and market moves indicate large stakeholders are trying to drive the price down. Having struck a 13-week high of $87,500 on March 20, Bitcoin has since retreated by 4.4% to $83,600, with technical indicators suggesting more downside risk.
BlackRock’s acquisition underlined the company’s strategic pivot articulated in its 2025 Global Outlook report, in which it found Bitcoin a competing, viable asset to gold in a world beset by unreliable stock-bond correlations.
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink has also been vocal about Bitcoin’s potential. He suggests that this kind of transition might be the “first wave” due to the discussions he’s had with sovereign wealth funds, implying that wider adoption may soon follow.
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But the reactions are not all unqualifiedly positive. Bitcoiners on X have raised concerns about centralization risks, highlighting BlackRock’s historical scepticism and increasing influence on BTC’s market dynamics.
Even so, the general attitude came across as bullish, with posts labelling it “institutional validation in action” and a possible accelerator for crypto to go mainstream.
Bitcoin’s risk perception in institutional markets
BlackRock’s Head of Digital Assets, Robert Mitchnick, sought to challenge the notion of Bitcoin as a high-risk investment on Wednesday amid volatility in the cryptocurrency market.
In an interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box, BlackRock Digital Asset Head Robert Mitchnick said the cryptocurrency industry has promoted that Bitcoin is a risk-on asset despite the token being “global, scarce, non-sovereign, decentralized.”
Mitchnick noted that this perception has become a self-fulfilling prophecy, partly driven by industry research and commentary reinforcing the risk-on narrative. He suggested that by framing Bitcoin this way, the industry may contribute to its volatility.
U.S. regulators approved spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds early last year, widening institutional investors’ access to the world’s oldest cryptocurrency. BlackRock’s application for a Bitcoin ETF is widely considered a turning point in issuers’ efforts to win long-sought approval for these funds.
The ETFs now manage about $100 billion in assets, with BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) controlling $46.5 billion of that total. IBIT reached $10 billion in assets faster than any fund in the ETF industry’s 32-year history.
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