There has been a notable change in the digital assets industry, as BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset manager, has shown a preference for public blockchain networks like Ethereum over permissioned ones. This important realization was uncovered during the panel titled “Beyond Bitcoin ETFs – What Comes Next for Institutional Investors?” at Coinbase’s State of Crypto Summit 2024, which took place on Thursday. The insight was shared by BlackRock.

There has been a notable change in the digital assets industry, as BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset manager, has shown a preference for public blockchain networks like Ethereum over permissioned ones. The crucial understanding was highlighted during a panel discussion titled “Moving Beyond Bitcoin ETFs – What Comes Next for Institutions?” at Coinbase’s State of Crypto Summit 2024 last Thursday. Samara Cohen, the Chief Investment Officer of BlackRock for ETF and Index Investments, expressed a confident viewpoint on the progress of blockchain technology in the financial sector. Cohen expressed the belief that private permissioned blockchains would be the dominant technology a few years ago. We have come to understand that public blockchains are more beneficial for the environment. Additional reading: SEC Chair suggests that Ethereum ETFs will likely receive full approval by the end of the summer. Her comments during the summit indicate a growing agreement among traditional market participants in favor of utilizing open-source platforms such as Ethereum to prevent liquidity fragmentation and promote broader, more efficient market involvement. This shift is in line with BlackRock’s recent efforts, including the launch of its initial tokenization project on the Ethereum blockchain in March. BlackRock partnered with Securitize, an American company, to convert the “Institutional Digital Liquidity” fund into a tokenized asset. This action resulted in an initial infusion of $100 million in USD Coin (USDC) on the platform.