BlackRock Sees Bitcoin as Diversifier Amid Institutional Ownership

BlackRock's U.S. Head of Equity ETFs, Jay Jacobs, believes Bitcoin still serves as a portfolio diversifier despite growing institutional ownership.

In an interview on the Anthony Pompliano podcast, Jacobs argued that the best opportunities in AI now lie outside the technology sector, citing materials, utilities, and digital infrastructure as key areas to watch.

The firm has mapped the 'AI value chain', which includes power companies, data centers, chip manufacturers, data owners, and model developers. Jacobs noted that scaling compute requires a significant physical footprint, making it difficult to scale software alone.

BlackRock has split this physical layer into separate products, including power and digital infrastructure ETFs. Jacobs emphasized that the fundamental diversifying nature of Bitcoin still holds, even as the investor base has shifted in recent years.