Why is BlackRock betting on Coinbase in a crypto bear market?

For years, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink flirted with the idea of widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies, but steered clear of them, saying his firm’s institutional clients were not interested. On Thursday, BlackRock inked a deal with Coinbase that will allow the investment company’s customers to trade bitcoin.The move comes as the cryptocurrency has lost more than 50% of its value since the beginning of the year due to tighter global financial conditions. After dropping more than 60% since January, Coinbase’s stock jumped 40% on the BlackRock news.