Samara Cohen, the helm of Berlaide ETF: revealed the encryption layout in 2025

Original: Bankless

Sortoring: yuliya, panews

In the perspective of Samara Cohen, the ETF and index investment in the global asset management giant Blackrolk, the financial market is in a critical period of transition. In this deep dialogue hosted by Bankless, Samara, who managed $ 6.6 trillion in assets, shared her unique insights on digital asset ETF, market modernization process, and blockchain technology and traditional finance. Extremely compiled.

SAMARA: Promotion of market modernization

Before joining the ETF industry, Samara focused on fixed income and derivatives business at large investment banks. She described herself as a "market modernization promoter", and is committed to enhancing market toughness, increasing transparency, and expanding investors' participation. In Blackrol, she cooperated closely with the head of the digital asset department Robbie Mitnik to jointly explore the potential of cryptocurrencies and digital assets.

Samara believes that ETF itself is a disruptive technology, consistent with the goal of blockchain technology: to promote market modernization and realize the innovation and change of financial markets. She pointed out that technological innovation has always been the cornerstone of market modernization, and this law has never changed in the past thousands of years.

The integration of blockchain and traditional market

Samara said that it is currently in the integration stage of blockchain assets and traditional financial markets. She pointed out that the launch of the United States Bitcoin ETP (exchanges, not ETF, this subtle definition difference) is exactly the first anniversary, marking an important watershed time, and at the same time, it is just the beginning.

The importance of these Bitcoin ETP is that they set up a bridge between the encrypted world and the traditional finance (Tradfi) world. Surprisingly, this bridge has a positive impact on participants in the two worlds:

• Traditional investors can contact Bitcoin through familiar investment tools
• Digital native investors have also found that ETP can meet their needs

Data show that many investors have first exposed to this product category through Bitcoin ETP, and then expanded to other ETPs. This integration currently involves only a few encrypted assets and rely on traditional financial infrastructure. Samara believes that the ideal development direction is to create a bridge and draw the best practice of all parties, rather than completely subvert the existing system.

Technical evolution and market transformation

Samara's transition from dial -up Internet to the broadband Internet is a metaphor for the current development of crypto assets: initial Internet data transmitted through telephone lines, but now in turn, telephone calls are conducted through the Internet. Regarding the future development of encrypted assets, there are two perspectives:

1. The current stage ("dial -up Internet" stage):

• Bitcoin ETF, Ethereum ETF, etc. are the "simulated version" of encrypted assets
• It is equivalent to forcibly loading encrypted technology into the traditional financial framework

2. Future Vision ("Broadband Age"):

• The business of traditional financial institutions (such as Berlaide and Nasdaq) may be transferred to the blockchain
• There may be a special financial institution blockchain

But Samara asked a key question: Is this completely decentralized vision really suitable for the current market and investors? From the perspective of balanced necessity, she analyzes the problem:

• Acknowledge the advantages of encryption technology in terms of transparency and auditability
• The necessity of questioning is completely decentralized
• Point out the historical value of the existence of intermediary agencies: allowing people to focus on their professional fields
• It is recommended to use encrypted technology to improve the trust mechanism, rather than completely replace the intermediary

The development of options market

BlackRock's Ishares Bitcoin ETF and Ethereum ETP occupy a dominant position in terms of options. BLACKROCK establishes an option ecosystem through cooperation with Nasdaq and other institutions. Among them, the Bitcoin ETF options are launched one day in advance than similar products.

The Ishares platform covers multiple asset categories and national markets, and has established a wide range of connections with the trading ecosystem. In the Bitcoin market, the following features are the focus of market attention:

• High volatility
• Volatility (fluctuation of volatility) of volatility is higher
• Has positive bias characteristics (the volatility rises when price rises often rise)

The development of the option market brings a new transaction mechanism for cryptocurrency ETFs. Although there are many sources of price information in the cryptocurrency market, the market is realized by introducing volatility tools into exchanges and listing transactions:

• Standardization of fund investment methods
• Specific measuability of volatility direction
• Real -time monitoring of the transaction situation

Data show that the ETF market has gone through significant growth in the past 20 years, and a considerable number of institutional investors initially entered the market through ETF options. The option market provides investors with an additional market participation, so that it can adjust the risk exposure according to its own needs.

The development of the option market has expanded the diversity of market participation, and the specific manifestations are:

• Standardization of transaction methods
• Price discovery mechanism is improved
• Increase in risk management tools
• Raise market liquidity

"Price is the best marketing"

There is a famous saying in the Bitcoin community: "Price is the best marketing." However, from the perspective of BlackRock, education is the best marketing method for Bitcoin . This kind of education mainly focuses on risk management, how to use risks to achieve diversification of investment portfolios, and research on the interaction between investment portfolios.

Although Bitcoin reached a new high at the end of the year, investors still need to soberly recognize that although the price volatility of Bitcoin has decreased in recent years, compared with other assets in investor investment portfolios, it is still a high height Risk, high volatility assets. It is precisely this volatility characteristic that Bitcoin has unique value as a decentralized tool for investment portfolios. Without these volatility characteristics, Bitcoin may not have such investment theories.

For institutions such as BlackRock, which are mainly facing long -term investors, conveying these fundamentals to investors is more important than paying attention to the price trend of Bitcoin. This also reveals a universal misunderstanding of the cryptocurrency industry: Many people think that the success of ETF is directly related to the rise in the price of underlying assets. However, this is completely different from the actual measurement standards for ETF products.

Blackrock's standards to measure the success of ETP (exchanges transaction products) are:

• Whether the product meets the needs of investors
• Whether it provides an effective market access mechanism
• Whether it has good liquidity
• Can it be found to be effective

ETF successful measurement standard

As a traditional financial expert, Samara pointed out some misunderstandings between the cryptocurrency community and the traditional financial field, especially the performance evaluation of Bitcoin ETF and Ethereum ETF. Samara specifically pointed out that many people believe that Ethereum ETF is not as successful as Bitcoin ETF, but from the perspective of professional standards in the ETF industry, the launch of Ethereum ETF is actually quite successful. She emphasized that the primary criterion for judging whether an ETF was successful is whether it can achieve the expected goal.

ETF successful measurement criteria:

1. Tracking accuracy

• It must be accurately tracking the underlying index
• The importance of Bitcoin ETF stems from solving the problems faced by investors before
• Provides new choices except for self -custody and exchanges
• Avoid the issue of position restrictions on futures ETF

2. Market quality

• Need a complete ecosystem support
• Including transaction volume, liquidity, exchange access
• The creation mechanism of the authorization of the participants (AP)
• Both Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF show good market quality

Flow difference analysis:

• ETF itself does not directly drive the inflow of funds
• Investors' emotions and investment concepts are the key
• Bitcoin investment concept in 2020 is more specific and clear than Ethereum
• This explains the difference in the inflow of funds between the two

Actual performance:

• Bitcoin ETF breaks the historical record
• Ethereum ETF is still ranked 20% of the top 20% of ETF this year in the United States
• Both are considered to be a successful product

Key discovery:

• Bitcoin's marketing story is simpler and direct (21 million limit, digital gold)
• The success of the product depends not only on technical performance, but also a clear narrative and identity positioning

ETF trend

Regarding the development of Ethereum ETF:

• SEC unexpectedly approved the Ethereum ETF in May 2023
• The industry faces the uncertainty of the transaction startup time from June to July
• Need to prepare investment portfolio, transaction operation and education strategy at the same time

Current market trend analysis:

1. Investor characteristics

• From small investors to complex investors
• Independent Investors (Self-Director) is the main driving force
• Investors generally understand the difference between Bitcoin and Ethereum

2. Advantages of Bitcoin investment topics

• Following the current geopolitical tension situation
• Responsible for the US dollar deficit worry
• As a decentralization tool for traditional investment portfolios
• Especially in the context of 2022 stocks and bonds, it seems more valuable

3. The challenge facing Ethereum

• For American investors who have held technology stocks
• Ethereum is more like an existing investment "amplifier" instead of "disperser"
• There is a high correlation with large technology stocks

Market education process :

• Investors' understanding of the two assets is constantly deepening
• Bitcoin is currently in line with the requirements of investment portfolios
• Market education is still ongoing

ETF protocol upgrade

Regarding the possible future agreement upgrades of Ethereum and Bitcoin blockchain, BlackRock's position and viewpoint as an ETF distribution agency deserves attention. When BLACKROCK participates in industry discussions, its point of view is mainly based on the following principles:

• Pay attention to how the ecosystem serves the needs of companies and customers to the greatest extent
• Tend to support open architecture and interoperability
• Considering the actual needs of institutional scale operations

Due to the huge operation of BlackRock, operations in closed ecosystems often face many restrictions. This is why the company has significantly shifted to supporting public blockchain instead of chain in the past few years. This transformation reflects the agency's attention to openness and scalability.

In terms of specific positions, Blackrol is more inclined to pay attention to:

• System scalability
• The participation conditions of the trading opponent
• The overall ecosystem is open, not to a specific encryption platform

ETF development forecast

In terms of ETF development prospects in 2025, Blackrock proposed several key observation points and expectations.

• First of all, they hope to see the research of Bitcoin's investment portfolio construction continued to deepen. The focus of the discussion should shift from "whether to invest in Bitcoin" to how to reasonably use Bitcoin in the investment portfolio ".
• The second important development is the launch of the Bitcoin ETP option. This innovation has shown its importance in November 2023. Generally speaking, the option ecosystem helps to create a more balanced transaction dynamics. When the market falls, there will be buying a market, and there will be selling disks when rising. However, innovation and complexity are often accompanied by each other. Although many institutions are keen to launch and market -based strategies, not all strategies are easily understood by investors. Therefore, strengthening investor education will become more and more important.

Other ETF plans

Regarding the future planning of BLACKROCK in digital asset ETF, the company has adopted a relatively cautious and pragmatic attitude. The following is the main point of view:

The difference between market cognition and reality:

• The market generally has a misunderstanding that the launch of ETF will inevitably lead to rising underlying asset prices
• The successful cases of Bitcoin ETF some extent strengthen this cognition
• The performance of Ethereum ETF shows that this association is not necessarily necessary

ETF 's actual impact on assets:

• Provide more convenient investment channels
• Bring a certain degree of legitimacy recognition
• Reduce regulatory risks
• May attract new funds pools

Blackrock 's investment decision principle:

• Based on a clear investment demonstration
• Cash flow assessment of the underlying assets
• Pay attention to risk measurement
• Consider customer portfolio needs

Observation of capital inflows:

• Bitcoin ETF has accumulated a net inflow of about 36 billion US dollars
• The transaction volume of the secondary market is 9 times that of the first -level market
• Institutional investors are involved through a variety of channels, ETF is just one of them

BLACKROCK 's current digital asset strategy focus:

• The operation and development of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF
• ADer -in project, especially the tokenization of the Treasury Fund
• Stable coin -related business

Looking to the future:

• The company currently focuses on Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF
• The digital asset strategy covers the three pillars of cryptocurrencies, stable currencies and tokens
• New product development will continue to be guided by customer needs

Impact

The new government is about to come to power, and its positioning is more inclined to free market and pro -market policies. For the cryptocurrency industry, an important change is that SEC Chairman Gary Gensler will leave. This change not only affects cryptocurrency native enterprises, but also pays close attention to BlackRock as the mainstream financial institution. It is worth noting that the influence of the SEC is not limited to the US market, but it actually spreads throughout the global financial market.

From a historical point of view, the US market's balanced performance in supporting innovation and protecting investors has always been better than other global markets. This balance has also created the dominant position of the US market today. The current regulatory environment is largely shaped from market changes from 2020-2021. During that period, the participation of individual investors was significantly improved, which mainly benefited from the transaction platforms began to provide commission -free services, people's acceptance of technology during the epidemic period, and stimulating planning funds issued by the government. Subsequently, many individual traders transformed into indexes and ETP investors, and this change has also promoted the continuous change of the market.

Future Outlook

Blackrock is optimistic about the future and expects that the market can return to the direction of balanced development. Although the recent supervision of cryptocurrency ETF lacks transparency, this situation is expected to improve. They look forward to a better -supported supervision environment, and also emphasize that appropriate supervision is essential to maintaining investor confidence.

For the specific outlook of 2025, Blackrock focuses on three core aspects:

• The establishment of basic definitions, clarify the attributes of various digital assets
• The clear division of jurisdiction and determine the scope of responsibility of the specific regulatory agency
• The establishment of the collaborative mechanism of the public and private sector

For the existing FIT 21 bill and stabilization currency bill, Blackrock believes that these are positive progress, but it is necessary to better integrate with the traditional finance (Tradfi) system to avoid creating a completely independent encrypted ecosystem to prevent the duplicate regulatory system hindering hindering hindering Participation of existing financial institutions.

She observed that although it was full of challenges in 2023, and the industry had strong dissatisfaction with the supervision environment, it was time to focus on the core mission: creating a more transparent and inclusive financial system.

The industry is entering the possible "golden age", which is mainly due to the three key factors:

• Lower cost block space
• A more convenient development environment
• Clearly clearer supervision prospects