INSTITUTIONAL | Crypto ETFs by the World’s Largest Asset Manager Generated Just $42 Million in Q1 2026

BlackRock’s digital asset exchange-traded funds (ETFs) generated $42 million in fees in Q1 2026, a small contribution relative to the firm’s broader ETF business despite rapid growth in crypto-linked products.

The world’s largest asset manager saw its digital asset products bring in revenue from

• investment advisory,
• administration fees and
• securities lending,

but the total accounted for only about 1.7% of its ETF fee income.

BlackRock’s ETF platform generated more than $2.4 billion in fees during the same period highlighting the relatively minor financial impact of crypto products within its overall business.

Digital assets represented roughly $68.8 billion of the firm’s $5.48 trillion in ETF assets under management, or about 1.1% of the total, though their share of fees was slightly higher at around 1.75%.

The higher revenue share reflects the relatively elevated fee structure of crypto ETFs compared with traditional funds with digital asset products running at about 24.8 basis points annualized versus roughly 17.2 basis points for the broader ETF complex.

Still, the overall contribution remains limited, underscoring how crypto’s financial significance to BlackRock depends heavily on scale and asset prices.

During the quarter, the firm’s digital asset ETFs attracted $935 million in net inflows while market declines reduced assets from $78.4 billion at the end of 2025 to about $60.6 billion by end of March 2026.

The figures suggest that revenue from crypto ETFs remains sensitive to market movements with asset price swings playing a larger role than inflows in shaping performance.

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