The figures contrast with BlackRock’s broader business, which had record assets under management (AUM) of $15.3 trillion after attracting $192 billion in net inflows during the quarter. The company also beat Wall Street expectations with adjusted earnings per share at $13.91 on $7.08 billion in revenue.
BLK shares traded 4.15% higher at £1,068 in pre-market trading on Wednesday.
BlackRock’s crypto goals
BlackRock is targeting $500 million in annual revenue from the business under its 2030 plan, the firm said in its earnings call.
This would represent a more than tenfold increase, compared to the $40 million BlackRock currently generates in base fees and securities lending, amounting to less than 1% of the firm’s total fee income.
BlackRock has steadily expanded its range of crypto ETFs since its spot bitcoin ETF (IBIT) and spot ether ETF (ETHA) listed in 2024. Recently, the firm introduced the iShares Bitcoin Income ETF (BITY), which seeks to generate income by writing covered call options on bitcoin exposure, offering investors an alternative to simply tracking the cryptocurrency’s price.
The asset manager also manages $60 billion of Circle’s reserves, about a quarter of the $300 billion stablecoin market, and wants to become the industry’s reserve manager of choice, it added.
BlackRock pointed to 5 billion crypto wallets as a new distribution channel for its traditional investment products during the earnings call.
