BlackRock Adds Its Bitcoin ETF to Model Portfolio for First Time

The world’s biggest asset manager is finally allowing Bitcoin into its $150 billion model-portfolio universe.

BlackRock Inc. is adding a 1% to 2% allocation to the $48 billion iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (ticker IBIT) in its target allocation portfolios that allow for alternatives, according to an investment outlook viewed by Bloomberg.

While that’s a small subset of BlackRock’s entire model portfolio business, the addition opens up a potential avenue of new demand for IBIT at a time when cryptocurrency sentiment is souring. Model portfolios, which package together funds into ready-made strategies to sell to financial advisers, have boomed ...