Coinbase Enters into Partnership with World's Largest Asset Manager BlackRock

Crypto exchange Coinbase has announced that it has entered into a partnership with BlackRock, a leading global asset management firm. Coinbase will connect to Aladdin, BlackRock's end-to-end investment management and operations platform, allowing the asset manager's institutional clients, including asset allocators, financial institutions, hedge funds and the corporate treasures, to directly access to crypto.

Under the partnership, Aladdin users will be able to manage their bitcoin exposures directly in their existing portfolio management and trading workflows for a whole portfolio view of risk across asset classes. The collaboration will focus on Bitcoin first, and more token may be launched in the future.

Joseph Chalom, global head of strategic ecosystem partnerships at BlackRock, said: "Our institutional clients are increasingly interested in gaining exposure to digital asset markets and are focused on how to efficiently manage the operational lifecycle of these assets."

"Blackrock and Coinbase will continue to progress the platform integration and will roll out functionality in phases to interested clients," Brett Tejpaul, Coinbase's head of institutional business, and Greg Tusar, vice president of institutional products, said in a statement.

Coinbase noted: "As the trusted partner enabling institutions to participate and transact in the cryptoeconomy, we are committed to pushing the industry forward and creating new access points as institutional crypto adoption continues to rapidly accelerate."

Like many crypto firms, Coinbase has been affected a lot in recent "crypto winter". In June, the exchange laid off 18% of its workforce, cutting around 1,100 jobs. A few days later, JPMorgan and Moody's downgraded their rating on the exchange. However, things took a turn for the better at Coinbase in July. The exchange had been approved by Italian regulators to be able to offer crypto services to local residents.