‘There’s so much opportunity’ in crypto: BlackRock COO

BlackRock COO Rob Goldstein noted that the firm had been looking into crypto since 2017

article-image

JHVEPhoto/Shutterstock and Adobe modified by Blockworks

share

This is a segment from the Empire newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe.


Yesterday, Coinbase hosted its annual State of Crypto summit. There were lots of announcements to unpack, especially if we’re talking about consumers.

I want to focus on remarks from a chat between Coinbase’s Brett Tejpaul and BlackRock COO Rob Goldstein, who gave some insight into how the world’s largest asset manager is thinking about crypto. 

While he didn’t give a timeline (other than stating that BlackRock has been studying crypto since roughly 2017), he did say that BlackRock saw “incredible utility with regards to stablecoins.”

“And…we saw a real requirement for the underlying assets to be managed, not sort of like a money market fund, but in a money market fund,” he added. 

The other leg of its strategy was all about access, Goldstein said, something that came with IBIT. He noted that IBIT, even before its success, was geared at being a “bridge strategy” designed to allow folks to gain exposure to bitcoin without ever buying bitcoin itself.

“An interesting fact about IBIT that I think is quite remarkable is that of the 25 largest ETFs in the world, the youngest one — aside from IBIT — is 12 years old. IBIT is 18 months old,” he said.

Then you have BUIDL…and, well, it seems like BlackRock’s played their hands right so far when it comes to success as a bridge. 

However, Goldstein noted that parts of the financial system are ripe for innovation — a fact I think we can all agree on.

“The frictions that still exist are much more oriented towards funds. There is a legacy ecosystem that’s been built over the past several decades that just has a lot of cost in it, it’s slow, it doesn’t scale that well, and I think that’s a natural place for innovation and disruption, just through technology and tokenization,” he said. 

But it really was Goldstein’s last point that made me realize just how bullish BlackRock is on the space. 

“This game is extremely early innings. It is extremely, extremely, extremely early innings. There’s so much more opportunity here. It’s barely started,” he said. 


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research Report Templates (2).png

Research

We’re bullish on the PUMP token. We believe Pump.fun's brand strength, existing integrations, product roadmap, and strategic levers justify PUMP's TGE valuation, and expect the token to re-rate meaningfully higher in the months ahead.

article-image

The acquisition is Pump.fun’s first, and comes just days before its planned ICO

article-image

As Trump’s tariff war reignites, everyone is assuming the dollar will continue its path lower. But the journey might be bumpy

article-image

A valuation model for “blockchain GDP”

article-image

The mini app combines vibe-coding with a hypercasual game feed and is coming to the new Coinbase Wallet

article-image

An improbable tale of the world’s 40th graphics-chip startup

article-image

The newly announced token will debut in an ICO on Saturday