• The latest Greenpeace USA report shows heavy investment by BlackRock in Bitcoin mining companies.
• Interestingly, BlackRock has also softened its stand towards the ESG push in its latest annual report.

The world’s largest asset manager BlackRock has recently shown great interest in bringing a spot Bitcoin ETF to the market with its filing submitted to the US SEC earlier this year in June. The latest report shows that BlackRock also has significant holdings in Bitcoin mining companies.

As per the latest info from Greenpeace USA, BlackRock is holding BlackRock is holding more than half a billion dollars worth of shares in the Bitcoin mining companies. It also includes some of the publicly listed companies. Some previous reports suggest that other asset managers like Fidelity and Vanguard also have purchased shares of BTC mining companies.

Earlier this month in August, Greenpeace USA – an affiliate of Greenpeace International – revealed its findings from its research on BlackRock Investments. It noted:

“Greenpeace USA research finds that BlackRock controls nearly $600 million worth of shares in Bitcoin mining companies and has shares in most of the large publicly traded miners. These investments are vital for mining companies to access funding for their energy-intensive facilities.”

In 2022, the firm introduced a private Bitcoin trust, enabling institutional investors to access the leading cryptocurrency. More recently, the company submitted an application for a spot Bitcoin ETF to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The potential approval of this ETF, given the extensive influence of the asset manager across various sectors, could be a resoundingly positive indicator for the cryptocurrency market.

BlackRock’s Shift from ESG

In their latest report, Greenpeace USA mentions that BlackRock’s investments in Bitcoin mining firms could mean a “Sharp cost to the climate and the rest of society”. The report stresses the energy consumption and carbon emissions caused by Bitcoin mining activities as the BTC price and trading volume go up.

Interestingly, BlackRock’s annual report also highlights the shift in the asset manager’s policy of Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG). Despite being a strong advocate of ESG investing in the past, BlackRock’s latest annual report presents a different stance. The company supported merely 7% of around 400 shareholder proposals concerning environmental and social matters.

This marks a significant drop from previous cycles, which saw endorsement rates ranging from 22% to 47%. The BlackRock report notes:

“Because so many proposals were over-reaching, lacking economic merit or simply redundant, they were unlikely to help promote long-term shareholder value and received less support from shareholders, including BlackRock, than in years past”.

Interestingly, the annual letter from BlackRock’s CEO Larry Fink this year conspicuously avoided discussing ESG, which is a departure from his previous letters. “More than half of the companies in the S&P 500 now voluntarily report Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions. I expect that number will continue to rise. But as I have said consistently over many years now, it is for governments to make policy and enact legislation, and not for companies, including asset managers, to be the environmental police,” Fink said.

Is it the question of Bitcoin over ESG for now to BlackRock? Current developments show that BlackRock is clearly pushing hard for the world’s largest crypto asset class.