Coinbase has entered into an agreement with the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock

In a statement posted on its blog Thursday, coinbase announced that it has partnered with BlackRock to provide the asset manager’s clients with a range of crypto services. Through Coinbase Prime, the exchange’s institutional crypto investment platform, clients “Aladdin“BlackRock will have access to crypto trading, custody, prime brokerage and reporting services in line with Coinbase’s own institutional clients.

BlackRock clients, will now have direct access to bitcoin through connectivity with Coinbase Prime. Joseph Chalom, head of strategic ecosystem partnerships at BlackRock, said of the development:

“This connectivity with Aladdin will allow clients to manage their bitcoin exposures directly within their existing portfolio management and trading workflows, for a comprehensive view of asset class risk.”

While the partnership between BlackRock and Coinbase is significant for both traditional financial institutions and the crypto industry, it comes as no surprise. In February, rumors surfaced that the asset manager was planning to give its institutional clients the ability to trade crypto-currencies. The company’s CEO, Larry Fink, has also previously stated that he was “fascinated” by bitcoin and that crypto-currencies had the potential to evolve into a “large asset class.“

More recently, BlackRock launched a new exchange-traded fund with a specific focus on blockchain technology, crypto-currencies and technology companies. The ETF features an 11.45% allocation to Coinbase.

Coinbase stock appears to be reacting favorably to the news. After suffering a substantial decline throughout the first half of the year, shares of the leading U.S. crypto-currency exchange have recovered with the rest of the U.S. equity market over the past week. COIN is already up more than 7% in pre-market trading.