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- BlackRock has acquired Preqin, a London-based data provider, for $3.2 billion as it ventures into private market indexing, which is expected to hit a market value of $18 billion by 2030.
- The acquisition has sparked speculation of expanding BlackRock’s ETF offerings, with Solana and XRP the two cryptos many believe will be next on the lineup.
BlackRock has struck a deal to purchase London-based private markets data provider Preqin for $3.2 billion as the world’s largest asset manager expands into alternative assets. Some believe this move could be a precursor to Solana and XRP spot ETFs.
BlackRock revealed on Monday that the purchase is led by a firm belief that it could do to private markets what it did for ETFs and indices over the past two decades. CEO Larry Fink commented:
We believe we could index the private markets. Just as indexing has become the language of public markets, we envision we could bring the principles of indexing even iShares to the private markets.
According to sources familiar with the deal, Fink beat bids from American credit rating agency S&P Global and media giant Bloomberg, who were all eager to acquire the London firm. Preqin is a leader in providing data on the performance of hedge funds and private equity—it covers over 60,000 asset managers and over 20,000 investors. With private capital expected to hit $40 trillion by the decade’s end, Preqin and its peers like Refinitiv and IHS Markit have been in high demand.
With the acquisition, BlackRock intends to expand its world-leading indexing principles to the private market. The company, which has over $10 trillion in assets under management, has proven to be formidable in the indexing business with its iShares lineup of indices.
Larry Fink says he wants BlackRock to "index the private markets" and "bring the principles of indexing even iShares to the private markets" on call today with analysts about the Prequin deal.. via @sabrush https://t.co/FLneVshlNe pic.twitter.com/gJDPAn42v2
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) July 1, 2024
Preqin’s platform and data will allow BlackRock to extend these offerings to a rapidly expanding private market, giving investors access to diversified portfolios of private assets, including venture capital, private equity, and even crypto.
Is a BlackRock Solana or XRP ETF Looming?
BlackRock is the market leader in crypto ETFs. As Crypto News Flash reported, its iShares Bitcoin Trust, or EBIT, is the largest in the BTC spot ETF sector, with assets under management hitting $20 billion in May.
The company has also ventured into the Ethereum ETF sector and was one of the applicants whose filings were approved by the SEC. Experts say that Gary Gensler’s final nod is now pending, and it might come later this month.
With a new multi-trillion dollar market set to open up for BlackRock after the Preqin purchase, the company is likely to expand its crypto ETF portfolio, and Solana and XRP are the two natural candidates.
The former is in the top five cryptos by most metrics, from market cap (which stands at $69 billion) to trading volume for non-stablecoin tokens where it ranks third after Bitcoin and Ether. It also ranks in the top five for total value locked at $3.55 billion, behind BSC, Tron and Ethereum.
XRP, on the other hand, is one of the industry’s pillars and one of the tokens that have been in the top ten for the longest time. Prior to its legal troubles with the SEC (where it looks set to pull off a landmark victory), it was in the top three. With a $27.044 billion market cap, it’s the seventh-largest crypto and is in the top ten for trading volume.
XRP trades at $0.486, gaining 1% in the past day as most of the market traded sideways.
