"I used to hate crypto, won't I open my heart now?"
Unwittingly, BlackRock added five additional authorized participants (AP)* to the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) bringing the total to nine as the fund continues to attract billions of United States (US) dollars from investors.
*Organizations that have the right to create and redeem ETF shares.
The new APs include Wall Street banking giants such as Goldman Sachs, Citadel Securities, Citigroup, UBS and ABN AMRO, where they join Jane Street Capital, JP Morgan, Masquarie and Virtu Americas.
Reported in January 2024, Goldman Sachs is not only trying its best to play an important role for the spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETF but is also in the process of discussing with the issuer about becoming an AP.
It is well known that AP is an important part of the follow-up ETF process helping to create liquidity through the conversion of stock supply when there is a shortage or surplus.
Large ETFs typically own dozens of APs, as evidenced by the fact that in less than three months of existence, IBIT managed to become quite large as it had nearly $18 billion in assets under management as of yesterday's close.
It should also be noted that Goldman Sachs' participation comes as a surprise after its chief investment officer of wealth management said this week that crypto is undervalued and feels no pressure to participate in the digital asset space.
Not only that, JPMorgan's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jamie Dimon has also openly attacked crypto for years, but eventually became one of the APs for BlackRock's IBIT when the fund was launched in January 2024.
