BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, sharply increased its exposure to digital assets during 2025, adding over $22 billion to its on-chain cryptocurrency holdings across the year, according to Finbold’s 2025 Cryptocurrency Market Report.
Data from blockchain analytics firm Arkham shows that between 1 January and 31 December 2025, the total value of BlackRock’s Bitcoin and Ethereum positions climbed from $54.8 billion to $77.3 billion. This represents an annual rise of just over 41%.
Bitcoin continued to form the core of BlackRock’s digital asset strategy throughout the year. The firm added more than 217,000 BTC, increasing the value of its Bitcoin holdings from slightly above $51 billion to around $67 billion by the end of 2025. This equates to a $15.98 billion increase, or 31% year on year.
Ethereum recorded the strongest growth rate over the period. BlackRock’s ETH holdings more than tripled during 2025, expanding by approximately 2.4 million ETH. In monetary terms, its Ethereum exposure grew from $3.6 billion to over $10 billion, delivering a 184% annual increase and underlining rising institutional interest in Ethereum’s use in tokenisation, settlement systems and yield-focused applications.
Commenting on the findings, Diana Paluteder, Research Analyst at Finbold, said the data points to a notable change in institutional behaviour:
“What stands out in BlackRock’s 2025 activity is not just the scale of capital deployed, but the consistency. Accumulation continued through periods of market consolidation, reinforcing the idea that large institutions are treating crypto as a strategic long-duration allocation.”
Jordan Major, Editor at Finbold, said the portfolio mix highlights where institutional confidence remains strongest:
“Bitcoin continues to anchor BlackRock’s crypto exposure, but Ethereum’s outsized growth in 2025 signals increasing confidence in its role within tokenization, settlement, and yield-bearing infrastructure. Together, the data points to a maturing institutional approach to digital assets.”
Overall, Finbold’s research suggests BlackRock’s increased crypto exposure in 2025 was supported by steady investor demand for regulated digital asset access, strengthening the case that institutional adoption has moved into a more structural phase.
