BlackRock CEO Larry Fink: Crypto Will ‘Transcend Any One Currency’

BlackRock boss Larry Fink has upped his bullish stance on cryptocurrency as an investment, today saying that “it’s going to transcend any one currency.”

The CEO of the world’s largest asset manager said in a Friday interview with CNBC that although he couldn’t talk about Bitcoin specifically as BlackRock had filed an application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a spot market Bitcoin ETF, crypto “has a differentiating value versus other asset classes.”

BlackRock—which manages $9.5 trillion in assets—last month applied to the SEC for a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund, leading institutional investors to pour money into the space and in turn causing the asset to jump to a 12-month high. 

“We believe we have a responsibility to democratize investing,” he said regarding ETFs. “Over the last five years, more and more global investors are asking us about the role of crypto—and like I said, I do think a lot of crypto is an international asset.”

“More importantly, because it’s so international, it’s going to transcend any one currency in currency valuation,” he continued, adding that an “international crypto product” can “transcend” the problem of dollar devaluation. 

A spot market Bitcoin ETF would give institutional investors access to Bitcoin without having to deal with complex storage issues, which could mean more money flowing into the market should an ETF ever be approved.

ETFs are popular investment vehicles that allow people to buy shares that track the value of an underlying asset like gold, foreign currencies, or cryptocurrency. 

A spot Bitcoin ETF does not yet exist in the U.S., but a number of high-profile investment firms have applied to the SEC for one. The SEC has been reluctant to approve such a product, though, citing market manipulation as one of the concerns. 

Just last week, billionaire Fink said the role of crypto is “digitizing gold” and that Bitcoin was “an international asset.”

But back in 2017, he said that “Bitcoin just shows you how much demand for money laundering there is in the world.” He changed his stance over the years, later claiming that it was a “great asset.”