Key Points:
- BlackRock CEO sees Bitcoin as an “international asset” and advocates for a Bitcoin ETF.
- BlackRock’s ETF application fueled Bitcoin’s price increase and attracted institutional investors.
- Fink, once skeptical, now recognizes Bitcoin’s value and BlackRock’s track record supports ETF approval.
In an interview, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said that Bitcoin is an “international asset,” only weeks after the world’s biggest asset management sought to launch a spot Bitcoin ETF.
On Fox Business on July 5, Fink said that crypto was essentially “digitizing gold,” implying that US authorities should investigate how an ETF directly connected to Bitcoin might democratize finance. Fink often remarked on important events influencing the crypto industry during his tenure at BlackRock, including the collapse of FTX in 2022 and increased interest in Bitcoin.
“I do believe the role of crypto is digitalizing gold, in many ways. Instead of investing in gold as a hedge against inflation, a hedge against the onerous problems of any one country, or the devaluation of your currency whatever country you’re in – let’s be clear, bitcoin is an international asset, it’s not based on any one currency and so it can represent an asset that people can play as an alternative,” said Fink.
With its application, BlackRock, which controls $9.5 trillion in assets, helped spark a Bitcoin run, prompting institutional investors to pour money into the area and pushing the price to reach a 12-month high. Fink said that BlackRock has previously worked closely with authorities on ETF applications and that the firm’s track record would assist in the approval of this current proposal.
“What we’re trying to do with crypto is make it more democratized, and make it much cheaper for investors,” he added.
While the BlackRock CEO said that he was first dubious about cryptocurrency due to its usage as a payment tool for illegal operations, he has subsequently changed his view. Bitcoin was originally referred to by Fink as an “index of money laundering.” Years later, though, he conceded that Bitcoin was a valuable asset and that BlackRock had profited from its investment in the digital currency. He has maintained that the asset would expand.
Last month, BlackRock submitted an application to develop a spot Bitcoin ETF, which was immediately followed by several other firms, including Fidelity. The asset management has a near-perfect track record of having ETFs authorized by the SEC, but the commission has never accepted an application for a spot Bitcoin ETF.
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Harold
Coincu News
Source: https://coincu.com/200412-blackrock-ceo-praises-bitcoin/