BlackRock And Fidelity Buy ETH Coins Worth IDR 8 Trillion
JAKARTA - Crypto assets are increasingly attracting big investors. This time two financial giants from the United States, BlackRock and Fidelity, reportedly bought Ethereum (ETH) worth more than $500 million through exchange-trained funds (ETF) products.
The purchases were made over two consecutive days through Coinbase Prime, a crypto trading platform specifically designed for large institutions, Arkham Intelligence reported Wednesday, December 12.
On December 11, 2023, Ethereum was trading at a price of 3,830 US dollars (Rp61.28 million) per coin, up 5.1 percent in the last 24 hours with trading volumes reaching 39.3 billion US dollars (Rp628.8 trillion). This large purchase came after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) gave the green light in May 2023 for eight Ethereum spot ETF products, which helped increase the interest of institutional investors.
BlackRock's iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA) product recorded an inflow of funds of up to USD 2.93 billion (IDR 46.88 trillion). This value makes BlackRock the largest Ethereum ETF issuer in the world. Meanwhile, Fidelity's Ethereum Fund (FETH) product managed to withdraw funds amounting to USD 1.35 billion (IDR 21.6 trillion).
The day before, on December 10, trading activity peaked, with ETHA recording trading volumes of US$372.4 million (Rp5.96 trillion) and FETH of US$103.7 million (Rp1.66 trillion).
This massive transaction also marks eight consecutive days of increasing the flow of funds to Ethereum ETF. Arkham Intelligence through social media noted, "IN THE LAST 48 HOURS: BLACKROCK AND FIDELITY BOUGHT MORE THAN HALF A BILLION USD ETH."
In addition to the big purchase, BlackRock is currently submitting a proposal to regulators to launch option trading for Ethereum Spot ETF. ETHA products, which are the only Ethereum ETFs registered on the Nasdaq and must obtain additional approval from the SEC, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and the Options Clearing Corporation (OCC). This decision is expected to be completed in April 2025.