It's actually a game-changer for the entire world.
Thanks xoom for bringing it up.
First, to add to that- Not only is Blackrock jumping on the crypto bandwagon, so is Schwab, Fidelity, Citadel, and many others. This ironically on the back of the SEC attacking the two biggest crypto exchanges- all very interesting and probably not a coincidence. Now is a good time to invest.
For those in the dark about crypto, the most important thing to understand is that it's not going away. If you forget all the news (propaganda) about criminals using crypto and just look at the tech, it doesn't make sense that it wouldn't get widely adopted one day and that day is coming soon. You can move crypto faster and cheaper than any other asset. While Bitcoin was the first use of blockchain technology, within our lifetimes (even the old-timers) we will see blockchain used in every part of society, from banking and business, to tracking food transportation and production, to providing privacy while allowing both parties to know everything they need to know about the other party without revealing private information.
Swift just announced they're working with Chainlink using CCIP, connecting 11,000 banks worldwide. CCIP is expected to go live in July of this year. So far Chainlink's token, LINK, has seen no price boost from the news, but it's something to keep an eye on.
Two important last mentions-
1. Most major countries are currently experimenting with central bank digital currencies (CBDC's). This is a practical move for central banks because it gives them much more control over money (including yours). I'm not thrilled about this development but it's inevitable so buckle your seat belts.
2. Within 5-10 years most assets will be tokenized. Soon you won't need to buy an entire asset, just a portion, and will be able to trade and transfer that value much faster, cheaper and easier. "Tokenized" simply means traded digitally in fractions. Overall this will be a good development, even if CBDC's are not.
Study up, and good luck!