BlackRock Suggests Giving Bitcoin a 1% to 2% Weighting #CriptoNews

Bitcoin just notched another win of sorts. BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset manager, says the cryptocurrency does have a place in multi-asset portfolios—to a point, anyway. According to a BlackRock Investment Institute paper released Thursday, giving Bitcoin a 1% to 2% weighting would produce a similar share of profile risk as the Magnificent Seven tech stocks in a standard 60/40 portfolio. That’s a “reasonable range,” BlackRock proclaimed, as anything beyond 2% would sharply increase crypto’s share of overall portfolio risk. Bitcoin has been on a high since the election of Donald Trump—and his subsequent nomination of crypto fan Paul Atkins to be chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission—soaring above $100,000. Although BlackRock’s memo provides a potential blueprint for investors “who are tolerant of Bitcoin’s risk,” they nevertheless should remain wary of scams amid the digital currency’s ongoing boom. Scammers have done exceedingly well for themselves in the past year (about $5.6 billion was lost to crypto fraud in the US last year, according to the FBI), in part because so many investors think crypto is a way to get rich quick—which of course makes them easy marks.

The European Central Bank lowered rates for a third consecutive meeting as inflation on the continent nears 2% while the economy struggles. The ECB’s statement has traders betting on more back-to-back cuts next year, too. And it wasn’t the only central bank to cut rates: The Swiss National Bank made a surprise half-point reduction to 0.5%. Following suit, Danish policymakers in Copenhagen also reduced borrowing costs. Thursday’s cuts come against the backdrop of France and Germany’s intensifying governmental disarray, as well as the run-up to Trump’s second stint in the White House.