BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, significantly expanded its exposure to digital assets in 2025, adding more than $22 billion to its on-chain cryptocurrency portfolio over the course of the year, according to Finbold’s 2025 Cryptocurrency Market Report.
Between January 1 and December 31, 2025, the combined value of BlackRock’s Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) holdings rose from $54.8 billion to $77.3 billion, marking an annual increase of just over 41%, based on data from blockchain analytics platform Arkham.
Bitcoin remained the backbone of BlackRock’s crypto exposure throughout the year. BTC holdings increased by more than 217,000 coins, lifting the value of BlackRock’s Bitcoin position from just over $51 billion to approximately $67 billion by year-end, reflecting a $15.98 billion increase, or 31% year over year.
Ethereum, however, delivered the fastest growth. BlackRock’s ETH holdings more than tripled in 2025, rising by roughly 2.4 million ETH. In value terms, Ethereum exposure grew from $3.6 billion to over $10 billion, translating to a 184% annual gain and reflecting growing institutional interest in Ethereum’s role in tokenization, settlement infrastructure, and yield-generating use cases.
Commenting on the findings, Diana Paluteder, Research Analyst at Finbold, said the data highlights a clear shift in institutional behavior:
“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, added that the composition of the portfolio reflects where institutional conviction 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.”
Taken together, Finbold’s analysis indicates that BlackRock’s expansion in crypto exposure during 2025 was driven by sustained investor demand for regulated access to digital assets, reinforcing the view that institutional adoption has entered a more structural phase.
