Crypto-friendly BlackRock starts ‘digital-first’ investment offering in India

Global investment giant BlackRock is expanding its reach in India with a partnership targeting the launch of the “digital-first offering” in India.

BlackRock, on July 26, officially announced a joint investment project with Jio Financial Services (JFS), an arm of Indian tycoon Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries — India’s most-valued firm. The companies each plan to invest up to $150 million in the 50:50 joint venture.

Named “Jio BlackRock,” the project aims to provide “tech-enabled” access to “affordable, innovative investment solutions” to millions of investors in India, the announcement reads.

The venture will utilize BlackRock’s expertise and talent in investment management, tech access, operations, scale and market intellectual capital, the announcement said. JFS will in turn contribute to local market insights as well as digital infrastructure and execution capabilities.

The partnership will introduce a new player to the India market with a “unique combination of scope, scale, and resources,” the announcement notes. JFS CEO Hitesh Sethia stated:

“The partnership will leverage BlackRock’s deep expertise in investment and risk management along with the technology capability and deep market expertise of JFS to drive digital delivery of products.”

The new joint venture is subject to regulatory and statutory approvals before its launch, the companies noted.

While referring to the new product as the “digital-first offering” in India, BlackRock and JFS didn’t specify any concrete plans for cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin (BTC), or any type of digital assets. The firms didn’t immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request to comment.

The news comes just as BlackRock analysts reiterate that an optimal investment allocation should include 84.9% BTC, 9% stocks and 6% real estate. The analysts previously made a similar claim in 2022.

If all investors follow BlackRock’s optimal BTC allocation, Bitcoin will be worth more than 5x the total value of all equities, real estate, and bonds.

84.9% BTC and 15.1% everything else

If total global wealth is ~ $800T today, #Bitcoin would be $190M per coin. https://t.co/oMHzVEMLIU

— Joe Burnett ()³ (@IIICapital) July 25, 2023

BlackRock has recently fueled notable bullish action on cryptocurrency markets by filing an application for a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission officially accepted BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF application for review in mid-July.

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