Shares of crypto lending platform Coinbase Prime closed 10.01 per cent higher at US$88.90 on Thursday after it announced a partnership with the world’s largest asset manager BlackRock Inc. to service institutional investors in the crypto world. 

Coinable will provide BlackRock’s Aladdin clients – a software used by large firms to manage investments – access to crypto trading, custody, prime brokerage, and reporting capabilities.

BlackRock's clients will also have access to leading security, insurance, and compliance practices as part of the services offered. 

“Our institutional clients are increasingly interested in gaining exposure to digital asset markets and are focused on how to efficiently manage the operational lifecycle of these assets,” Joseph Chalom, the global head of strategic ecosystem partnerships at BlackRock, said in a press release on Thursday. 

Coinable currently services over 13,000 institutional clients, which include hedge funds, asset allocators, financial institutions, corporate treasuries and other institutions.

“This connectivity with Aladdin will allow clients to manage their bitcoin exposures directly in their existing portfolio management and trading workflows for a whole portfolio view of risk across asset classes,” Chalom said. 

The partnership comes at a time when digital currencies have been extremely volatile. The price of Bitcoin has plummeted to US$22,954.71 from its high of over US$60,000 in November of last year. 

Michele Schneider the managing director of Market Gauge Asset Management, told BNN Bloomberg in an email that the partnership should dispel the general sentiment of the crypto market being driven solely by the retail market that has been putting cash in speculatively. 
 
“The first domino fell when Fidelity allowed bitcoin investing in their 401(k)s. Now with Blackrock and Coinbase, the second domino has fallen -- hence the institutions are lining up for massive adoption in both the technology and currency,” she said. 
 
“Bottom line is that this deal has now been given exposure from the biggest asset manager, which in turn is another green light for institutional inflows (into crypto).”