BlackRock, a giant in the world of stocks and bonds, is ramping up its efforts to serve the stablecoin market, the company told CNBC for the first time. This latest move by Larry Fink’s company, which is expected to be announced on Thursday, is aimed at further capitalizing on the crypto boom. The company, which manages $13.5 trillion in assets, has reorganized one of its money market funds with an investment strategy designed to appeal to stablecoin issuers. One of its characteristics is that it complies with the landmark US law signed into law this summer by President Donald Trump, which provides a regulatory framework for stablecoins. Stablecoins are an important part of the cryptocurrency ecosystem and are expected to see a lot of growth in the future. Citi analysts predicted in late September that under an optimistic scenario, total stablecoin issuance could surge from about $280 billion this fall to $4 trillion by 2030. “We want to be and believe we are a good reserve manager” for stablecoin issuers, John Steele, global head of products and platforms for BlackRock’s cash management business, told CNBC ahead of Thursday’s announcement. After all, for years, BlackRock has partnered with Circle, the second-largest stablecoin issuer, and managed a large portion of its reserves. Circle went public in June in a red-hot trade. With the updated fund, the world’s largest asset manager aims to offer similar functionality to Circle to the broader stablecoin issuer community. Stablecoins, like popular cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, are traded on a digital ledger known as a blockchain. However, the difference is that stablecoins are designed to maintain a consistent value compared to another asset (often pegged to the US dollar), rather than increasing in price over time. Stablecoins are thus commonly used for transactions on the blockchain, such as purchasing cryptocurrencies. People who want to buy a stablecoin go to the issuing company and pay with real money. Stablecoin issuers don’t just want to hold cash. The company hopes to earn some yield by keeping its customers’ cash in a safe and accessible place. If a customer wants to redeem their stablecoin for dollars, the issuer needs to have immediate access to funds to make the repayment. As such, money market funds have become a popular investment destination for stablecoin reserves. Stablecoins are considered safe and liquid because they are invested in short-term U.S. Treasuries. It also has the added benefit of earning a higher yield than a traditional savings account at a bank. That’s where BlackRock, a veteran money market fund operator, comes in. The completely overhauled money market fund is now called the BlackRock Select Treasury-Based Liquidity Fund (BSTBL) and is designed to be more liquid than previous versions. The fund will also provide additional access by extending the trading deadline from 2:30 p.m. ET to 5 p.m. ET. These changes come in parallel with compliance with the so-called GENIUS Act, which introduces the first federal guardrails for stablecoins and specifies safe locations where reserves must be invested. With President Trump’s signature in July, the government effectively authorized U.S. companies to issue these digital tokens, a major victory for the cryptocurrency industry. Traditional finance giant BlackRock is betting the BSTBL fund will be a win in its efforts to delve deeper into cryptocurrencies. Steele told CNBC that the fund will allow the company to continue gaining market share in a growing area of digital assets. “This is an opportunity to not only support clients who are looking to issue stablecoins, but also how we can assist them in doing so, but this will clearly create the potential for new distribution opportunities,” Steele added. BLK XLF YTD Mountain BlackRock’s year-to-date stock performance compared to the S&P 500 Financials sector. To be sure, reorganized money market funds are not exclusive to stablecoin issuers. Institutional investors such as pensions and endowments can also deposit cash. For example, Steel Co. said expanding trading hours could appeal to customers on the West Coast. This allows “corporate treasurers, especially treasurers on the West Coast, to give their own treasurers a little bit more time.” [profit and loss] In the world of digital assets, BlackRock’s existing products include the popular Bitcoin exchange-traded fund and Ethereum exchange-traded product, both launched last year. The investment management company also operates the largest tokenized money market fund called the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL). Established in March 2024, BUIDL differs from traditional money market funds in that ownership is recorded. Blockchains are traded 24/7. BlackRock’s earnings report on Tuesday showed that its efforts in the cryptocurrency space are paying off. Chief Financial Officer Martin Small said on a conference call that the aforementioned Bitcoin and Ethereum products were one of the biggest drivers of the 10% increase in underlying fees in the third quarter. Meanwhile, the company’s cash management business surpassed $1 trillion in assets under management for the first time last quarter. Indeed, the partnership with Circle as the primary custodian of BlackRock’s cash reserves is “driving meaningful growth,” Small said. The executive continued, “Our mandate for the quarter exceeded $64 billion. “BlackRock delivered the strongest underlying fee growth in recent history, and we enter the fourth quarter in a great position.” After rising 3.4% on Tuesday to close at a record high, BlackRock stock posted modest gains in Wednesday’s session. The stock rose 0.7% to close above $1,200 per share for the first time. This is all part of BlackRock’s efforts to expand outside the traditional world of publicly traded stocks and bonds. The iShares ETF operator has announced a number of deals in alternative assets since early 2024, including the acquisition of private credit manager HPS Investment Partners, infrastructure investment firm Global Infrastructure Partners, and alternative data provider Preqin. On Wednesday, a consortium of investors including BlackRock acquired the data center operator for $40 billion. The Investing Club’s stake in BlackRock, launched a year ago this month, is here to stay, largely due to its strategy to grow in these areas. In the future, BlackRock plans to further expand in the field of digital assets. CEO Fink touted tokenization as “one of the most exciting growth areas in financial markets” during an earnings call on Tuesday. Tokenization refers to the creation of blockchain-based versions of various assets. Although Fink was once a “proud skeptic” of Bitcoin, he has been positive about blockchain technology for at least 7 years. “We see future commercial opportunities in leveraging tokenization to further bridge the gap between traditional capital markets and the growing digital asset space,” Fink, who co-founded BlackRock in 1988, said on an earnings call Tuesday. “There is over $4.5 trillion worth sitting in digital wallets across crypto assets, stablecoins, and tokenized assets, and we see this market growing significantly over the next few years.” (Jim Cramer’s charitable trust is Long BLK. See here for a complete list of stocks.) As a subscriber to Jim Cramer’s CNBC Investment Club, you’ll receive trade alerts before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling stocks in his charitable trust’s portfolio. When Jim talked about stocks, he waited 72 hours after issuing a trade alert before executing the trade, according to CNBC TV. 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