CoinMarketCap News, August 5: Why Coinbase and BlackRock Partnership's a Big Deal

Coinbase and BlackRock have teamed up to give institutional investors greater access to cryptocurrencies. It's a significant partnership, not least because BlackRock is one of the biggest asset management firms in the world. Major BlackRock clients who use the Aladdin investment management platform will be able to get direct access to crypto through a connection to Coinbase Prime. Bitcoin will be initially available, but other digital assets could be rolled out in the future. BlackRock's global head of strategic ecosystem partnerships, Joseph Chalom, said: "Our institutional clients are increasingly interested in gaining exposure to digital asset markets and are focused on how to efficiently manage the operational lifecycle of these assets."

Nomad Bridge has announced that it's offering a 10% bounty to white hat hackers who return funds that were stolen in a devastating exploit earlier this week. An estimated $190 million was taken in an attack that's been likened to a "free for all." The embattled crypto project has said legal action will not be pursued against white hat hackers. The latest figures from Etherscan suggest $22 million has been sent to the official recovery address, but that's just 11.5% of the funds that are missing. Research from Chainalysis estimates $2 billion has been stolen in cross-bridge attacks so far this year — representing 69% of all crypto thefts.

Meta's announced that it's rolling out support for NFTs to 100 countries around the world. International expansion will take digital collectibles to Africa, Asia, the Middle East and the Americas. But notably, it seems Europe has been omitted from these plans — perhaps a sign that ongoing regulatory scrutiny in the EU might be an issue. Partnerships have also been struck up with Coinbase and Dapper, meaning Instagram users will be able to connect their wallets. NFTs on three blockchains are now supported — Ethereum, Polygon and Flow — and Meta says there are no fees associated with posting or sharing a digital collectible. This is a significant milestone in bringing crypto collectibles to the masses, and for many who use Instagram, this will likely be the first time they come into contact with NFTs.

Block achieved gross profits of $1.47 billion in the second quarter — up 29% year on year. Jack Dorsey's crypto-focused payment company — which owns Square and Cash App — says it's continuing to grow despite the market downturn. But it hasn't all been plain sailing. Revenues related to Bitcoin stood at $1.79 billion, 34% less than during the same period a month ago. And out of that, gross profit was $41 million — just 2% of revenue. In a letter to shareholders, Block said there's been declining consumer demand for Bitcoin in recent months. The results were worse than what analysts had expected — and in pre-market trading on Friday, Block's share price was down 6.7%.