BlackRock: 1% Crypto Allocation in Asia Could Unleash Nearly $2T Into Markets

BlackRock: A 1% crypto allocation in Asia could unleash nearly $2 trillion into markets A modest shift in Asian portfolio allocations could pour staggering sums into crypto markets, Nicholas Peach, head of APAC iShares at BlackRock, told attendees at Consensus Hong Kong. Peach argued that even a conservative 1% model allocation to cryptocurrencies across Asia’s household wealth would translate into immense new inflows. “Some model advisors are now recommending a 1% allocation to cryptocurrencies in your standard investment portfolio,” Peach said. He then did the math: with roughly $108 trillion in household wealth across Asia, a 1% allocation equates to just under $2 trillion of potential capital — a figure Peach noted is on the order of “60% of what the market is now.” The point was to highlight how much capital currently sits on the sidelines in traditional finance, waiting for mainstream channels to open. BlackRock’s iShares unit — the world’s largest ETF provider — has been a pivotal bridge between traditional investors and regulated crypto exposure. The firm’s U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin ETF, IBIT, launched in January 2024 and became the fastest-growing ETF in history, now managing nearly $53 billion. Peach emphasized the Asia connection: investors from the region have been a meaningful source of flows into U.S.-listed crypto ETFs, underscoring that the crypto ETF boom is not solely a U.S. phenomenon. ETF adoption in Asia is expanding beyond crypto. Peach pointed out an uptick in ETF usage across equities, fixed income and commodities, as investors increasingly favor ETF wrappers for expressing market views. At the same time, several Asian markets — including Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea — are actively moving toward launching or enlarging their own crypto ETF offerings, and market watchers expect deeper regional platforms as regulatory clarity improves. For asset managers, the challenge now is twofold: build accessible, compliant products and ensure investors understand how to use them within broader portfolio strategies. “The pools of capital that are available in traditional finance are unbelievably large,” Peach said. “It doesn’t take much in terms of adoption to lead to really significant financial results.” If model portfolios continue to inch toward even small crypto allocations, the resulting capital flow could reshape liquidity dynamics and accelerate mainstream adoption across the digital-asset ecosystem. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news