BlackRock wants to launch a bitcoin ETF. Why now?

• BlackRock's CEO talked up bitcoin last week, with the asset manager trying to launch a fund that tracks it.
• Cryptocurrencies could "revolutionize" finance, Larry Fink said.
• The question he didn't answer is: why now?

BlackRock is trying to become the first asset manager to launch a fund tracking the price of bitcoin.

Last month, the asset management giant filed an application to launch its exchange-traded fund, which many crypto execs believe could become the first spot bitcoin vehicle to be approved by the US markets watchdog, the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Institutional investors aren't allowed to buy cryptocurrencies at the moment – but SEC approval of BlackRock's filing would change all that, offering Wall Street a cheap and regulated route into the token.

CEO Larry Fink has backed up his firm's push for the spot ETF by repeating bitcoin bulls' usual talking points, saying last week that the token is akin to "digitizing gold" and could eventually "revolutionize" finance.

But the question Fink hasn't answered is: why now?

It might seem like an odd time for BlackRock to be pushing to launch its ETF, with the crypto industry still reeling from a brutal 2022 – when the price of key tokens cratered and high-profile firms, like Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX, collapsed.

The SEC has responded by launching an "all-out assault" on big-name exchanges like Binance and Coinbase in a bid to protect US-based investors, who saw massive amounts of money wiped out when Bankman-Fried's crypto empire failed in November.

But bitcoin has staged a mini-comeback in 2023 despite all that, with the token's price jumping more than 80% to over $30,000 as investors turn more optimistic on the economy and anticipate the end of the Federal Reserve's aggressive tightening campaign.

And the fact that BlackRock filed for its ETF off the back of that rally probably speaks to Wall Street's desire not to miss out on another potential bull run.

At the start of 2021, most top banks took a scathing stance on digital assets – and then missed out on a massive surge, fueled by low interest rates, that helped bitcoin's price to quadruple in the space of a year and turned crypto into a $2 trillion industry.

BlackRock's spot ETF filing, and Fink's conversion from skeptic to potential savior, suggest that Wall Street is determined not to make the same mistake twice.