Asset management giant BlackRock has expanded its digital asset coverage to meet growing demand from individual and institutional investors, appointing Anchorage Digital as a second crypto custodian alongside Coinbase.
Coinbase has previously served as the sole custodian for BlackRock’s most prominent crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs), including the $48 billion iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) and the $2.1 billion iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA). The addition of Anchorage Digital, a federally chartered crypto bank backed by major investors such as KKR, GIC, Andreessen Horowitz, and Goldman Sachs, represents a strategic move by BlackRock to diversify and strengthen its infrastructure.
“As demand for digital asset products grows and our footprint in the ecosystem grows, we continue to expand our service provider network with a focus on the highest quality institutional providers,” said Robert Mitchnick, Head of Digital Assets at BlackRock. “After a comprehensive assessment, Anchorage Digital clearly meets these standards.”
Anchorage was last valued at over $3 billion and has begun to gain traction among institutional investors. The firm has seen significant growth in its trading business this year, according to co-founder and CEO Nathan McCauley. “We serve a lot of large companies that are buying Bitcoin,” McCauley said. “A lot of large institutions are buying Bitcoin in significant amounts.”
McCauley also noted that the next phase for crypto ETPs could include adding more crypto assets and features like staking that allow investors to earn returns on backed assets.
Despite the market volatility in 2025, BlackRock’s IBIT has continued to lead the industry as the largest Bitcoin ETF, attracting over $2.6 billion in inflows year-to-date, while its Ethereum counterpart ETHA has attracted over $500 million in inflows in the same period, according to Bloomberg data.
*This is not investment advice.
