BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, will offer its iShares spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund in Brazil, launching a new Bitcoin BDR (Brazil Depository Receipt) ETF in Brazil. Transactions will begin on March 1.

BlackRock will partner with Brazilian financial market infrastructure provider B3 to offer the new product. “The launch of the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF BDR, IBIT39, advances the innovation of ETFs and gives investors access to bitcoin through a security – ETF BDR – that can be included in their portfolios,” BlackRock Brazil president Karina Saade said in a statement at the company headquarters in São Paulo. said.

BDRs of foreign ETFs are securities issued in Brazil and backed by shares of ETFs issued abroad. The Brazil ETF is effectively the same as the BTC ETF that BlackRock launched in the US in January. It will reflect the performance of the U.S. ETF and charge a 0.25% management fee, but will be offset by an annual exemption for the first $5 billion of assets under management. BDRs are fully taxable.

The Brazilian fund will be offered to investors who already have at least 1 million reais ($201,000) invested in the market. BlackRock Brazil is awaiting retail approval.

There are 13 crypto exposure ETFs on B3 that started listing in 2021, with a total value of 2.5 billion reais ($503 million). Brazilian crypto ETFs have seen trading volume of 30 million reais ($5 million) so far this year.

According to various media reports, if BlackRock receives SEC approval to launch a spot Ethereum (ETH) ETF in the US, it will also consider launching a spot Ethereum ETF in Brazil.