• The US House of Representatives Select Committee snubbed BlackRock for its investments in blacklisted Chinese firms.
• BlackRock issued a clarification that they haven’t invested outside the ambit of the US government laws.

BlackRock recently created huge waves in the crypto space by filing for the spot Bitcoin ETF back in June 2023. However, the world’s largest asset manager has come under the scrutiny of a US Congressional panel over its investment in blacklisted Chinese companies.

On Monday, July 31, the House of Representatives Select Committee issued letters to BlackRock and MSCI notifying both parties about initiating an investigation over their investments in Chinese companies. The Select Committee’s Chairman, Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin said:

Our review has shown that, as a direct result of decisions made by MSCI, these Americans are now unwittingly funding PRC companies that develop and build weapons for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA)—the PRC’s military—and advance the CCP’s stated mission of technological supremacy.

The letter stated that BlackRock and MSCI are worsening a significant national security threat and undermining American values by sending large sums of American money to companies associated with the Chinese military and human rights abuses.

With tensions already soaring between Washington and Beijing, the recent investigation puts investors on edge. The biggest question crypto investors are asking is whether this will impact the chances of approval for BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF.

With its spot Bitcoin ETF filing, the asset manager has raised many hopes in the crypto community. BlackRock’s filing also triggered a strong rally for the BTC price to climb to $31,000.

BlackRock Denies Any Wrongdoing

Commenting on the recent actions initiated by the US lawmakers, BlackRock stated that they haven’t done anything wrong outside the ambit of the law. In a word to CNN, BlackRock noted:

Like many global asset managers, BlackRock offers our clients a number of strategies to invest in or exclude China from their portfolios. The majority of our clients’ investments in China are through index funds, and we are one of 16 asset managers currently offering US index funds investing in Chinese companies.

With all investments in China and markets around the world, BlackRock complies with all applicable US government laws. We will continue engaging with the Select Committee directly on the issues raised.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency Bitcoin (BTC) has been currently under some selling pressure and is finding it difficult to surge past the resistance of $30,000. As of press time, Bitcoin (BTC) is trading 2.39% up at a price of $29,605 and a market cap of $575 billion.

As reported by Crypto News Flash, the Bitcoin whale activity has also dropped to new lows. Even though Bitcoin’s price has dropped below $30k, key stakeholders are not showing significant interest in buying the dip, and the market cap has gradually decreased to its current level of $29k.