BlackRock and SEC: What Scandalous Secrets Do Their Crypto Meetings Hide?

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In a scene straight out of an American finance opera (the kind with less singing, more spreadsheets), BlackRock—one of capitalism’s more elegantly dressed behemoths—has waltzed through the revolving doors of the SEC, finding themselves face-to-face with the infamous Crypto Task Force. One could almost imagine both sides sizing each other up over their digital portfolios, preening like peacocks, yet nervously clutching bitcoin wallets in their inside pockets. The SEC, of course, is busily undoing years of “please don’t do that” rules with the kind of unbridled enthusiasm typically reserved for destroying small villages in Russian novels. Upon completion of their stately dance, BlackRock soared to the balcony and announced the juiciest tidbits to the world below. 🍸

The Five Entertaining Moments from the BlackRock-SEC Crypto Soirée

Apparently, dear reader, BlackRock was not summoned with a subpoena, but invited itself with the subtlety of an heiress to a champagne brunch—likely carrying circulars that are now being giggled over by crypto enthusiasts everywhere.

The number-one topic, of course, was BlackRock’s so-called “Digital Assets Product Suite”—a phrase proving that even Wall Street must wear new hats to the blockchain ball. We’re talking the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), the iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA), and—brace yourself—the tokenization darling, BUIDL, whose name seems designed to make vowels optional. 🥂

Second highlight: staking. Yes, staking, that thrilling pastime where asset managers dream of gentle returns while the SEC plays gatekeeper. The room vibrated with the faint hope that the SEC might one day bless ETPs with staking the way a benevolent aunt distributes silver teaspoons. (Of course, Grayscale’s latest attempt is still in regulatory purgatory, because some traditions—like long governmental delays—never die.)

Third, tokenization—a word so amorphous it almost escaped through the conference room window. The duo squinted in unison at the not-yet-written standards for future Crypto ETPs. It was all a bit like discussing etiquette rules for a dinner party hosted by Schrödinger: all possibilities are both alive and dead. 🍾

The fourth subject was the options for crypto ETFs. Here, the discussion teetered dangerously close to existentialism as an avalanche of “undefined thresholds” and “exercise limits” made their annual debut. If you think the SEC always knows what it’s doing, you must also think cats can swim the English Channel.

The Curious Case of American Regulation: Now with More Meetings Than a Victorian Parliament

Eleanor Terrett, high priestess of Crypto In America—as seen on X, where all serious business happens—noted that this cozy BlackRock rendezvous is the 99th crypto confab since February. That’s more meetings than most people endure in a lifetime, let alone in the time it takes to hatch a duckling. 🦆

NEW: The second meeting with BlackRock today marks the Crypto Task Force’s 99th meeting with industry participants.

Nearly 100 meetings since February. What a stark contrast to the last four years.

— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) May 9, 2025

Since Acting SEC Chairman Mark Uyeda took up the regulator’s scepter, the Crypto Task Force has held more roundtables than the Knights of the Round Table ever dreamed possible. (Only this time, Sir Lancelot brought a hardware wallet.) There are even whispers that future roundtables will be themed around “tokenization,” featuring guest appearances from Distributed Ledger Technology and its less charismatic cousin, Compliance. 🎭

For added dramatic tension, Commissioner Hester Peirce has suggested a coming-together, perhaps even an exemption for tokenization. This would allow the traditional titans of finance a taste of DLT’s sweet nectar, so long denied them by stodgy old rules.

As the curtain falls on this episode, the world watches BlackRock, the SEC, and Chairman Paul Atkins—waiting, breathless, for regulatory reforms that may someday, possibly, actually arrive. Or not. As with all things crypto, certainty is simply not on the menu. 🍷

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2025-05-09 23:28