Crypto exchange Bitget is holding discussions with major Wall Street firms, including BlackRock, about potential cooperation in distributing digital-asset products across Asia, according to remarks by a Bitget executive.

Bitget is engaging with the Wall Street institutions to understand their plans for digital assets and explore possible areas of cooperation in the Asian market, and specifically identified BlackRock as an institution with which the exchange has been in close communication regarding regional distribution.

"I'm talking to all the Wall Street giants to understand where they are coming from and how we could collaborate," the executive told CoinDesk. "We have very close communication with BlackRock, for example, in terms of our distribution in the Asia market."

A BlackRock spokesperson confirmed that the asset manager's crypto exchange-traded products are already available in Asia and said the company regularly engages with a broad range of participants across the digital-asset ecosystem. However, BlackRock declined to comment on specific expansion plans in the region.

Bitget Sees Asia as a Key Distribution Market

The discussions come as Asia becomes an increasingly important market for digital assets. An OECD report found that blockchain-based crypto-asset transactions in the region grew 69% year over year as of June 2025, the fastest growth rate among all regions.

Regional regulators have also been building frameworks for digital-asset activity: Hong Kong has operated a licensing regime for virtual-asset trading platforms since 2023, and Singapore's Payment Services Act requires digital-asset service providers to be licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Such frameworks are part of the backdrop against which traditional financial institutions have weighed deeper involvement in the region's crypto markets.

Bitget has a substantial user base in the region. The exchange has 125 million registered users globally, with approximately half located in East and Southeast Asia.

The composition of Bitget's user base could also make crypto exchanges an increasingly relevant distribution channel for traditional asset managers. According to Bitget's own first-quarter 2026 data, 52% of its users already hold both cryptocurrencies and traditional stocks.

That overlap suggests that some investors are increasingly treating digital and traditional assets as part of the same portfolio, potentially creating opportunities for financial institutions seeking to distribute tokenized products to investors through established crypto platforms.

BlackRock Expands Its Digital-Asset Presence in Asia

BlackRock, which manages $15.3 trillion in client assets, has continued expanding its digital-asset operations, including blockchain-based money market products and tokenized cash offerings.

The firm's regional strategy has also included new investment in its Asia-Pacific digital-assets business. In December, BlackRock announced a digital-assets position in Singapore, saying the role would help shape its strategy across Asia and identify first-mover opportunities.

At Consensus Hong Kong 2026, Nicholas Peach, head of BlackRock's APAC iShares division, said a 1% allocation of Asia's estimated $108 trillion in household wealth to crypto could generate nearly $2 trillion in inflows.

BlackRock's broader cryptocurrency strategy has also included bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded products. Robert Mitchnick, the company's head of digital assets, said last week that the macroeconomic case for bitcoin was strengthening.

The potential Bitget relationship would therefore come as large traditional financial institutions continue developing products that connect conventional investment markets with blockchain-based assets.

Crypto Exchanges Could Become a Bridge to Traditional Investments

Coinbase UK CEO Keith Grose separately told CoinDesk that Coinbase serves as custodian for the majority of BlackRock's bitcoin and Ethereum ETPs in the United States.

Grose described BlackRock as a leading participant in the institutional digital-asset market, noting that the asset manager was among the first to launch a bitcoin ETP at scale and has since expanded its presence with large funds onchain.

For Bitget, discussions with major financial institutions could position the exchange as a potential distribution channel for digital-asset products among Asian investors. Whether any cooperation materializes, and in what form, remains to be seen; the talks with BlackRock and other Wall Street firms do not establish that any specific partnership or product launch has been finalized.

Source: CoinDesk