BlackRock Plans To Let Go Of 600 Employees Ahead Of Imminent Bitcoin ETF Approval

Mega asset management firm BlackRock, which is hoping to be one of the issuers of the much-awaited spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETF) in the U.S., is planning to lay off 600 people, equivalent to about 3% of its global workforce, in the coming weeks.

BlackRock did a similar round of layoffs in 2022 based on the performance metrics of employees. The latest round of "routine" job cuts will see 600 people lose their jobs, Fox Business reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Savings from the job cuts would reportedly be utilized for the firm's expansion, particularly in technology investing, as well as in alternative products, away from bonds and stocks.

Although BlackRock, considered the world's largest asset manager with $9.42 trillion in assets as of June 30, 2023, saw its shares nosedive by 21% in 2022, they skyrocketed in 2023 and was up by 6%.

Business was good as it saw $187 billion in new customer money inflow to its Exchange Traded Fund department.

Moreover, the asset management titan is expecting its spot Bitcoin ETF application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to be approved this Wednesday. It has reportedly prepared to mobilize around $2 billion of capital inflow as soon as its pending crypto vehicle investment gets approved.

"I heard from a pretty well-placed source that BlackRock has more than $2 billion lined up in week one in new incremental flows from existing Bitcoin holders who are adding to positions — I can't vouch for that. But you know, that's what everyone is doing, just making phone calls and trying to find the folks who can write checks for these products," Matthew Sigel, VanEck's head of digital asset research, disclosed last week.

The information was later confirmed by senior Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, who said, "I got a second source to confirm Matt's claim that they have big day one $ lined up."

Bitcoin was trading in the red zone at $44,003.28, with its 24-hour trading volume up by 52.58% at $23.95 billion as of 3:53 a.m. ET on Monday. The latest price action represents a 0.34% dip in its value on the day and a 3.54% gain over the last seven days.

Data from CoinMarketCap shows that Bitcoin's current circulating supply stands at 19.59 million BTC and its market cap is at $861.57 billion.