Summary
- BlackRock’s digital asset funds fell to $48.8 billion from $79.6 billion a year earlier despite $15.1 billion in net inflows.
- The decline was driven by $45.8 billion in market losses, which outweighed new investor money.
- Digital asset products also recorded $3.1 billion in net outflows during the second quarter, even as BlackRock posted record firmwide assets and beat Wall Street earnings estimates.
BlackRock’s (BLK) digital asset business shrank sharply over the past year even as investors continued to pour money into its crypto products, highlighting the impact of lower crypto prices on the world’s largest asset manager.
The firm reported digital asset products falling to $48.8 billion at the end of the second quarter from $79.6 billion a year earlier, a decline of nearly 39%, in its latest earnings release on Wednesday.
The drop came despite $15.1 billion of net inflows into the products over the past 12 months. Those inflows were more than offset by $45.8 billion in market depreciation, as reported by BlackRock’s filing underscoring how closely the firm’s crypto ETF business remains tied to digital asset prices.
The weakness continued in the second quarter, when BlackRock’s digital asset products recorded $3.1 billion in net outflows.
The decline in BlackRock’s digital asset funds came during a weaker quarter for crypto markets. Bitcoin BTC$64,853.48 and ether (ETH) both struggled to reverse losses from earlier in the year, with the largest crypto asset falling more than 14% in the quarter while ether fell 25% over the same period.
