Unofficial BlackRock 'EtherRock' NFTs net $750,000 in trading volume

A meme NFT collection that combines the idea behind the popular NFT collection EtherRock with the unofficial branding of the investment giant BlackRock has already seen 398 ETH, or $749,000, in total trading volume. 

The collection, also called BlackRock, comes on the heels of BlackRock's filing for a Bitcoin ETF. The investment firm has no affiliation with the NFT project, according to the collection's OpenSea profile.

EtherRock is a collection of 100 rocks launched in 2017. It grew to prominence during the NFT craze, when its NFTs were selling for as high as $1.8 million.

The BlackRock meme collection has 999 individual NFTs that are selling at a floor price of 0.245 ETH, which is worth about $462 as of publication time. The collection sold out on June 21, 2023. This recent activity caused it to be trending on OpenSea.

The creator of the BlackRock NFT collection appears to have kept ownership of 100 of the NFTs, or 10% of the collection. So far they have not put these NFTs for sale or accepted any offers on them.

BlackRock's crypto impact

BlackRock filing a Bitcoin ETF with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on June 15 has an immediate impact on the crypto market. The Grayscale Bitcoin Investment Trust spiked 400% in the days after, and bitcoin's price rallied above $30,000 — surpassing this threshold for the first time since April. 

The venture capital fund Valkyrie Fund filed for a Bitcoin spot ETF on June 21 after BlackRock, adding the potential ETF to its existing roster of a Bitcoin Strategy ETF and a Bitcoin Miners ETF. Invesco and WisdomTree also submitted filings for Bitcoin-tied products in the same week. 

As a potential result of both BlackRock and Valkyrie filing Bitcoin ETFs and others following suit, Bitcoin's volatility rose to the highest it has been since mid-May, The Block previously reported.