According to TechFlow, on September 20, CryptoSlate reported that on September 16, BlackRock submitted a document to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), announcing the revision of its custody agreement with Coinbase, aiming to optimize the operating mechanism of the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF. The revision of the Coinbase Prime Broker agreement mainly focuses on improving the efficiency of currency withdrawals and improving asset management strategies during unsettled transactions.
According to Section 2.1 of the revised Custody Service Agreement, Coinbase Custody must complete the withdrawal of digital assets to a public blockchain address within 12 hours of receiving instructions from the Trust or its authorized representative. This provision significantly shortens the processing time for asset withdrawals. At the same time, the agreement allows the Trust to withdraw Bitcoin from the Vault balance or transaction balance to a public blockchain address under specific balance requirements, even if there is an unsettled transaction credit, provided that an amount equal to the unsettled transaction credit is retained in the total account balance after the withdrawal.
The revision of the agreement comes at a time when the market is questioning Coinbase's asset management practices. Although Coinbase has not yet officially responded to the allegations, the adjustment of the agreement can be seen as BlackRock's initiative to improve the transparency and efficiency of ETF operations, which is expected to ease market concerns.
