BlackRock confusion triggers 90% surge in HBAR token
The HBAR token, the native cryptocurrency of the Hedera blockchain, experienced a significant surge of 90% after a misleading announcement from the HBAR Foundation. This caused confusion among influencers in the crypto community.
Contrary to popular belief, the involvement of BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, in the tokenization of a BlackRock money market fund on the Hedera blockchain was misinterpreted. The HBAR Foundation X post on April 23, which was misinterpreted by many, stated that Archax and Ownera, blockchain trading and infrastructure firms, tokenized BlackRock’s ICS US Treasury Fund on the Hedera platform.
The accompanying video in the announcement gave the impression that Ownera, Archax, and BlackRock were collaborating on the project, leading HBAR to claim that they were bringing the world’s largest asset manager onto the blockchain. This led to several influencers mistakenly believing that BlackRock was moving its $22.3 billion fund to the blockchain or forming a partnership with Archax and Ownera.
In reality, Archax and Ownera collaborated with the HBAR Foundation to bring the money market fund to the Hedera blockchain. This follows abrdn plc, the largest active wealth manager in the UK and a member of the Hedera Council, tokenizing its money market funds on Hedera in 2023, which was a significant milestone for the asset management industry.
Chris O’Connor, founder of the Cardano Ghost Fund DAO, clarified that BlackRock had no involvement in the developments of the Hedera project. He criticized the HBAR Foundation for misleadingly framing the announcement, comparing it to an individual buying a luxury item and claiming a partnership with the brand.
At the time of writing, the Hedera token was trading at $0.1415, still showing a 60% increase in the last 24 hours. The trading volume for HBAR during the same period was $2.76 billion.
The confusion surrounding this announcement comes as the Hedera Global Governing Council recently approved funding of 4.86 billion HBAR ($408 million) for future network expansion. These funds are part of the HBAR Foundation’s plans to grow its user base in 2024, following the impressive performance of the network in 2023, where 33 billion transactions were conducted according to the foundation.
Read more: BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF attracts $73 million amid a sluggish market.
