BlackRock’s Bold AI & Crypto Gambits Pay Off Big: Bitcoin ETF Nears $100B, $40B Data-Center Deal Shakes Markets
Deep Dive: BlackRock – the world’s largest asset manager – has staked a huge claim in AI, crypto and energy. In late 2024 it launched two active ETFs focused on AI and tech, calling AI a “mega force with broad investing implications”ts2.techreuters.com. Those funds hold leading semiconductor and software companies, capturing the current AI euphoria. Simultaneously, its iShares Bitcoin Trust capitalizes on the crypto craze. As CoinDesk notes, IBIT “has emerged as the asset manager’s most profitable ETF, with just under $100 billion in assets” less than two years after launchcoindesk.com. These ETF successes reflect record investor flows into crypto and tech. In the past week of “Uptober” frenzy, U.S. spot crypto ETFs saw nearly $5 billion inflows – over $3.5B into Bitcoin funds alonets2.tech – as Bitcoin topped $125Kts2.tech. Bloomberg’s James Butterfill and other analysts point out that this surge “highlights growing recognition of digital assets as an alternative in times of uncertainty”ts2.tech. Wall Street heavyweights have responded by lifting targets: Morgan Stanley now forecasts $165K Bitcoin by year-end, Standard Chartered eyes $200K if momentum continuests2.techts2.tech. BlackRock’s CEO Larry Fink himself has warned that high rates and a weak dollar are pushing investors toward crypto, even suggesting a small
