Blackstone has ventured into Crypto Assets for the first time, purchasing $1 million worth of Bitcoin (BTC) ETF.

Source: Cointelegraph Original text: "Blackstone Group enters the cryptocurrency space for the first time, purchasing $1 million worth of Bitcoin (BTC) ETF"

The Blackstone Group, which calls itself "the world's largest alternative asset management company," disclosed its first purchase related to cryptocurrency, buying shares of BlackRock's spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).

However, according to a filing submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on May 20, 2025, BlackRock's total investment amounts to only about $1.08 million—this is just a small part of the asset management company's $12 trillion portfolio.

BlackRock reported that as of March 31, it holds 23,094 shares of the BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT).

According to Google Finance data, these IBIT shares were added to Blackstone's Alternative Multi-Strategy Fund (BTMIX), which holds assets worth $2.63 billion.

Documents show that Blackstone also purchased 4,300 shares of cryptocurrency ATM operator Bitcoin Depot Inc. (BTM) at a total cost of $6,300 and spent $181,166 to acquire 9,889 shares of ProShares Bitcoin ETF (BITO).

Despite calling itself an "alternative asset management company," Blackstone has largely stayed away from cryptocurrencies. In September 2019, Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman stated that he liked the concept of blockchain but found it "rather strange" to use it for currency.

"[I] grew up in a world where someone needed to control the currency," he said at the time.

He admits that he has little interest in cryptocurrency, citing the difficulty in understanding the technology.

Blackstone's investment areas encompass private equity, real estate, credit, infrastructure, hedge funds, and insurance solutions.

According to BlackRock's website, as of March 31, it has $37 billion in investable capital.

At the same time, the Wisconsin Investment Board—one of the first state investment funds in the U.S. to provide Bitcoin exposure for retirees—reported on May 15 that it had liquidated all 6,060,351 shares of IBIT in the first quarter, valued at $3.7 billion.

According to Farside Investors, BlackRock's Bitcoin fund has not seen any outflows for six consecutive weeks since April 9.

During this period, the fund recorded inflows for 20 consecutive trading days, and since its launch in January 2024, the total net inflow has exceeded 46.1 billion dollars.

Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) and ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARK) follow IBIT closely in historical net inflows, with $11.8 billion and $2.8 billion, respectively.

Related news: New York City Mayor Eric Adams establishes a cryptocurrency advisory committee