Key Points
- BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin (BTC) ETF will be available in Brazil through a new BTC BDR ETF, starting March 1.
- BlackRock is considering launching a spot Ethereum (ETH) ETF in Brazil, pending SEC approval in the U.S.
BlackRock’s iShares spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) is set to be available in Brazil. This will be made possible through the introduction of a new BTC BDR (Brazilian Depositary Receipts) ETF, with trading set to commence on March 1. This was announced by BlackRock, the largest asset manager worldwide.
Partnership with B3 and the Introduction of the New Product
BlackRock intends to collaborate with B3, a Brazilian financial market infrastructure provider, to offer this new product. This was disclosed by Karina Saade, BlackRock Brazil’s president, at the company’s São Paulo headquarters. She explained that the launch of the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF BDR, IBIT39, enhances the innovation of ETFs and provides Bitcoin access to investors through a security – the ETF BDR – that can be incorporated into their portfolios.
BDRs of foreign ETFs are securities issued in Brazil and are backed by shares of ETFs issued abroad. This Brazilian ETF is essentially the same BTC ETF that BlackRock launched in the U.S. in January. It will mirror the performance of the U.S. ETF and will carry an administrative fee of 0.25%, offset by a one-year exemption on the first $5 billion of assets under management (AUM). BDRs are fully taxable.
Availability and Other ETFs
The Brazilian fund will be open to investors who already have at least 1 million reals ($201,000) invested in the market. Retail sales are still awaiting approval from BlackRock Brazil.
There are currently 13 ETFs with crypto exposure listed on B3, which began listing in 2021. These have a combined value of 2.5 billion reals ($503 million). The Brazilian crypto ETFs have seen 30 million reals ($5 million) in trade volume so far this year.
The BlackRock spot BTC ETF was one of ten approved by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on Jan. 10. The fund reached $2 billion in AUM in two weeks and tied with Fidelity’s spot BTC fund in having the largest debut month in the history of ETFs. The BlackRock ETF currently has over $8 billion in AUM.
Various media outlets have reported that BlackRock is contemplating the launch of a spot Ethereum (ETH) ETF in Brazil, provided it gets SEC approval to do so in the United States.