BlackRock CEO Larry Fink claims Bitcoin is gaining legitimacy as an asset class and if it proves itself over time could make the US Dollar less relevant.
Fink was on a panel with the former Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney, and they were both questioned about Bitcoin’s properties.
Fink, the CEO of the world’s biggest asset management firm BlackRock, appeared to overcome his historical scepticism on Bitcoin, saying the growing interest in Bitcoin could indicate that it will earn its place in the global financial system.
Fink pointed out the interest he’d observed in the traffic to the BlackRock website for Bitcoin material compared with others as a signal that could reflect in growing adoption in the leading cryptocurrency.
However, Fink, did empahsize that even though Bitcoin was still largely untested BlackRock was taking it seriously, and would be sizing it up over time.
‘Bitcoin has caught the attention and imagination of many people. May people are fascinated about it, many people are excited about it, but it’s still untested, and it’s still a small market compared to other markets.’
‘We look at it as its real, but its still untested, … but we have to go through many markets to see if it’s permanently real.’
Mark Carney Refused To Be Drawn On ‘The B Word’
Former Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney was also on the panel and was as institutionalized as ever.
Carney dismissed the importance of what he called ‘the B word’ and stressed everything they had spoken about before Bitcoin would be ‘far more determinative of our future.’
Carney refused to be drawn on Bitcoin, but did say there would be a move towards central bank digital currencies (CBDC), which he said would be the bedrock of substantial innovation.
Larry Fink: Bitcoin Could Change The Need For The US Dollar
Both Carney and Fink said that CBDCs were on their way and they both see digital currencies as a fantastic opportunity to lower costs of payments.
Fink went further, however, saying that if a true digital currency could be separated from dollar based assets, it would change the need for the US dollar, especially in the bigger international US Dollar market.
‘Having a digital currency has real impact on the US dollar,’ said Larry Fink, ‘because having a digital currency makes the need for the US dollar to be less relevant for international holders of dollar based assets.
Fink’s comments come after BlackRock CIO Rick Rieder said Bitcoin could take some shine from gold, and possibly one day rival the precious metal’s stature as the store of value and hedge against the devaluing of fiat currencies.
BlackRock Is Thinking About The US Dollar’s Future Irrelevance
BlackRock is the world’s biggest asset management company and oversees some $7 trillion across a suite of mutual funds, ETFs, and other financial instruments used widely in financial markets.
It is also one of the largest investors in MicroStrategy, and was before CEO Michael Saylor used $425 million of the company’s books to buy Bitcoin and make it the largest part of its treasury holdings.
BlackRock would have been one of the main players at MicroStrategy’s shareholder meeting back then, and would have been offered a premium on the MSTR share.
It’s clear, however, the asset management firm understand the possibilities of Bitcoin. First BlackRock’s CIO Rick Rieder says Bitcoin could rival gold one day, and now the firm’s CEO is saying it could one day make the US dollar less relevant.
Although Larry Fink maintains Bitcoin has a lot to prove, the bullish sentiment on the possibility of Bitcoin from BlackRock is absolutely bullish for Bitcoin.
Author: Tommy Limpitlaw
Bitcoin FAQs
There are many ways to make money with Bitcoin. The most obvious way is to mine Bitcoin. Bitcoin mining is the process of verifying transactions, and helping to secure the Bitcoin network. Bitcoin miners are rewarded with bitcoins for their work.
There is no Bitcoin CEO. There is no central authority that directs or controls Bitcoin. It was created by a pseudonymous programmer Satoshi Nakamoto, but he gave it up to the community, and now all decisions are made by the hundreds of thousands of miners and nodes who work for the Bitcoin network.
You can buy Bitcoin in many places in Canada and it’s always good to do some research, as there are some questionable exchanges. Paxful or CEX are two global platforms that allow buyers to purchase Bitcoin in CAD.
Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer money that nobody can manipulate. It’s all set in the Bitcoin codebase which is secured by hundreds of thousands of computers all around the world. Bitcoins can be sent by anybody and no third party is need to verify the transactions, and nobody can stop Bitcoins being sent.
A Bitcoiner since 2017 and a Bitcoin Maximalist since 2018, Tommy is our main writer and editor at Bitcoin Maximalist. Other than researching and writing about Bitcoin, Tommy loves spending time with his family and supporting his beloved Leeds United.
