Samara Cohen's Blueprint for Crypto ETF Evolution: BlackRock's 2025 Vision

Samara Cohen, who leads BlackRock’s ETF and index investment division, stands at the forefront of a pivotal transformation in global finance. Managing $6.6 trillion in assets, Cohen has emerged as a key architect in reshaping how traditional finance and blockchain technology converge. In an extensive conversation with Bankless, the seasoned executive revealed BlackRock’s strategic roadmap for digital assets, offering critical insights into why 2025 marks a turning point for the $36 billion Bitcoin ETF ecosystem and the broader crypto market.

The Market Modernizer Behind BlackRock’s Digital Asset Strategy

Before ascending to her current role, Samara Cohen spent years at a major investment bank navigating fixed income and derivatives markets. She describes herself as fundamentally committed to “market modernization”—a philosophy rooted in enhancing market resilience, deepening transparency, and democratizing investor access. At BlackRock, Cohen partnered closely with Robbie Mitnik, head of digital assets, to explore how crypto and blockchain could unlock new possibilities within traditional portfolios.

Cohen’s perspective on ETFs itself offers surprising clarity: they represent a disruptive innovation aligned perfectly with blockchain’s ultimate mission. “Both ETFs and blockchain serve the same function,” she explained—driving market modernization and catalyzing financial system transformation. Throughout history, technological innovation has consistently been the engine of market evolution, and this pattern shows no signs of changing.

Bridging Crypto and Traditional Finance: The ETF Revolution

The cryptocurrency market currently exists at an inflection point—the moment when digital assets and traditional finance begin their true integration. One pivotal marker: the US Bitcoin ETP (Exchange Traded Product—a subtle distinction from ETF that matters) celebrated its one-year milestone, representing far more than a calendar date. It symbolizes the emergence of a genuine bridge connecting the crypto world to traditional finance infrastructure.

What makes this bridge remarkable is its bidirectional benefit. Traditional investors gain Bitcoin exposure through familiar, regulated investment vehicles. Simultaneously, crypto-native investors discovered that ETPs address their operational needs in ways self-custody and exchange holding never could. The data tells a compelling story: many retail participants first encountered this asset class through a Bitcoin ETP, then expanded into Ethereum ETPs and similar products.

Cohen noted that this integration currently touches only a handful of crypto assets and relies heavily on existing financial infrastructure. Rather than viewing blockchain as a mechanism to obliterate traditional systems, she advocates for absorbing best practices from both worlds. The ideal future involves true convergence, not ideological conquest.

Technological Progress: From “Dial-Up” to “Broadband”

To illustrate crypto’s developmental trajectory, Cohen invoked an internet history analogy: the industry is transitioning from “dial-up” to “broadband” infrastructure. Initially, the internet transmitted data through telephone lines; today, telephone calls travel over the internet. The same two-stage evolution applies to crypto:

The Current Phase (Dial-Up): Bitcoin ETFs and Ethereum ETPs function as digitized versions of underlying assets—essentially fitting crypto technology into traditional financial frameworks. This stage prioritizes compatibility and investor familiarity.

The Emerging Vision (Broadband): Major institutions like BlackRock and Nasdaq might eventually migrate core operations onto public blockchains. Specialized financial institution blockchains could proliferate. Traditional finance fully reimagines itself through distributed infrastructure.

Yet Cohen poses a critical question that challenges crypto orthodoxy: “Is complete decentralization actually optimal for current markets and investors?” She doesn’t dismiss decentralization’s merits—transparency and auditability represent genuine advantages. However, she questions whether eliminating intermediaries entirely serves market needs. Historical evidence demonstrates that intermediaries enable professionals to concentrate expertise within their domains. Cohen’s proposal? Leverage cryptographic technology to strengthen trust mechanisms rather than eliminate intermediaries entirely.

Options Market Growth: New Tools for Institutional Participation

BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin and Ethereum products command dominant market share in options trading—a development that carries profound implications. Working alongside Nasdaq and other institutional partners, BlackRock deployed Bitcoin ETF options a full day ahead of competitive products, establishing first-mover advantage in the derivatives space.

The options ecosystem illuminates three critical market dynamics that matter for sophisticated traders:

• High baseline volatility in Bitcoin pricing
• Volatility of volatility—the fluctuation of volatility itself—exceeds typical asset classes
• Positive volatility skew—price spikes trigger elevated volatility acceleration

These characteristics created opportunity. By introducing standardized volatility instruments to exchanges, the market achieved critical infrastructure upgrades: consistent funding mechanisms, measurable volatility trending, and real-time transaction monitoring. Institutional investors have historically entered equity markets through options-based products; the same pattern now unfolds in crypto ETFs.

Data reveals the secondary market for Bitcoin ETF options trades at 9 times the primary market volume, demonstrating institutional appetite for these tools. The options market expands participation by increasing risk management flexibility—allowing sophisticated investors to calibrate exposure precisely according to portfolio requirements.

Education Over Hype: BlackRock’s Marketing Philosophy for Crypto

The Bitcoin community embraces a popular maxim: “Price is the best marketing.” Samara Cohen respectfully disagrees. From BlackRock’s institutional perspective, education represents Bitcoin’s most effective marketing tool. This educational focus centers on portfolio construction principles: understanding risk management frameworks, deploying crypto for diversification, and analyzing cross-asset relationships.

Despite Bitcoin reaching fresh records as 2025 opened, Cohen emphasized a counterintuitive reality: while Bitcoin’s price volatility has declined relative to its early years, it remains a high-volatility, high-risk asset compared to traditional portfolio components. This characteristic is not a flaw but precisely the feature that makes Bitcoin valuable as a diversification tool. Without volatility, Bitcoin’s investment thesis essentially collapses.

For institutions targeting long-term capital preservation and growth, communicating these fundamental factors outweighs obsessing over price trends. This distinction reveals a widespread misconception within crypto communities: many participants incorrectly assume ETF success directly correlates with underlying asset price appreciation. Industry professionals measure ETF performance using entirely different standards.

BlackRock evaluates ETP success across four dimensions:

• Does the product genuinely address investor needs?
• Does it facilitate effective market access?
• Does it maintain robust liquidity?
• Does it enable accurate price discovery?

Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs: Success Beyond Price Action

Samara Cohen identified a significant misunderstanding within industry discourse: numerous analysts claim Ethereum ETFs underperformed compared to Bitcoin ETFs, but this assessment fundamentally misapplies professional standards. By institutional ETF industry metrics, Ethereum’s launch in mid-2023 succeeded impressively—a reality obscured by surface-level capital inflow comparisons.

The actual determinants of ETF success differ substantially from what crypto observers typically emphasize. BlackRock prioritizes three core metrics:

Tracking Accuracy: The ETP must faithfully mirror its underlying index. Bitcoin ETFs solved a critical problem institutional investors faced—until their arrival, options included either self-custody (operationally complex) or exchange holdings (concentration risk). Bitcoin ETFs eliminated the futures-based position limit constraints that earlier products carried.

Market Quality: Success requires comprehensive ecosystem infrastructure: trading volume depth, reliable liquidity, exchange accessibility, and functional Authorized Participant creation/redemption mechanisms. Both Bitcoin and Ethereum ETPs deliver superior market quality.

Capital Flow Dynamics: Inflows themselves don’t drive ETP success; rather, investor conviction and evolving investment philosophies determine capital deployment. Bitcoin’s 2020 narrative—21 million cap, digital gold analogy—resonated with crystalline clarity. Ethereum’s investment case required explaining as a computational platform within a competitive altcoin landscape. This narrative complexity explains divergent capital inflows, not product inadequacy.

The data demonstrates both products succeeded: Bitcoin ETFs accumulated approximately $36 billion in net inflows, while Ethereum ETFs still rank among the top 20% of US ETF issuances for 2023. Conflating flow volume with product quality represents a category error.

Options Innovation and the Path Forward

The launch of Bitcoin ETP options represented another crucial evolution. Beginning in November 2023, this innovation reshaped market dynamics—when prices declined, buyers materialized; when prices surged, sellers emerged. This balanced flow dynamic improves price discovery and reduces extreme volatility spikes.

However, complexity accompanies innovation. Many institutions enthusiastically promote options-based strategies without ensuring investor comprehension. Consequently, 2025 demands intensified investor education specifically focused on derivative products and risk management frameworks.

The Regulatory Environment and 2025 Prospects

A political transition in the United States brought significant implications for cryptocurrency’s regulatory trajectory. SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s departure marks a symbolic turning point, though his influence extends beyond American borders—SEC policy fundamentally shapes global market architecture. Historically, the US market balanced innovation support against investor protection more effectively than competitors, establishing regulatory dominance globally.

The current regulatory framework largely crystallized during 2020-2021, when pandemic-driven government stimulus, commission-free trading platforms, and pandemic-accelerated digital adoption transformed retail participation. Individual traders gradually evolved into index and ETP investors, perpetuating market structure changes.

Looking toward 2025 and beyond, BlackRock anticipates movement toward a more supportive innovation environment, emphasizing that regulatory clarity and investor confidence protection must advance simultaneously. The company prioritizes three regulatory outcomes:

1. Clear Definitional Framework: Establish standardized classifications distinguishing various digital asset categories
2. Jurisdiction Clarification: Define specific regulatory agency responsibilities, eliminating jurisdictional ambiguity
3. Public-Private Collaboration: Build partnership mechanisms enabling coordinated policy development

Regarding pending legislation like the FIT 21 Act and Stablecoin Act, Cohen views these as positive developments—though better integration with traditional finance systems remains essential. Fragmented regulatory regimes could inadvertently create parallel ecosystems, deterring mainstream financial institutions from full crypto participation.

The Industry’s Potential Golden Age

After 2023’s tumultuous regulatory environment generated widespread industry frustration, Samara Cohen perceives the sector refocusing on its core mission: constructing a more transparent and inclusive financial system. Three factors position crypto for potential acceleration:

• Lower block space costs making blockchain applications economically viable
• Improved development environments reducing technical barriers
• Regulatory clarity replacing uncertainty with actionable frameworks

BlackRock’s current digital asset strategy concentrates on three pillars: cryptocurrency ETPs (Bitcoin and Ethereum), tokenization initiatives (particularly government bond funds), and stablecoin infrastructure development. Future product expansion will remain customer-driven rather than ideology-driven.

Samara Cohen’s vision reflects neither crypto utopianism nor traditional finance conservatism, but rather pragmatic integration—leveraging blockchain’s genuine innovations while preserving institutional mechanisms that have served markets effectively across centuries. As 2025 unfolds, her insights suggest that crypto’s path forward depends less on disruption than on thoughtful convergence.