During BlackRock's third-quarter earnings conference, CEO Larry Fink made it clear that he is a strong supporter of Bitcoin and digital assets. Fink's comments not only emphasized Bitcoin's status as an independent asset class, but also its growing importance to historic financial markets such as mortgages and high-yield bonds, which are currently worth $11 trillion. are shown in parallel.
BlackRock CEO praises Bitcoin
“We believe that Bitcoin is an asset class in its own right,” Fink clarified. “It is an alternative to other commodities like gold.” He also revealed that BlackRock is actively working with institutions around the world on digital asset allocation. “The conversations we are having with institutions around the world [are] “How we should think about digital assets and what kind of asset allocation there should be,” he explained.
Mr. Fink emphasized that it is inevitable that digital assets will become a reality globally, stating, “I believe that the use of digital assets will increasingly become a reality around the world.” Fink drew parallels with the early days of the mortgage and high-yield markets and suggested that digital assets are on a similar trajectory of growth and acceptance.
“Years ago, when we started the mortgage market, many years ago when the high-yield market happened, [they] We had a very slow start, but grew as we built better analytics and data,” he recalled. “Through better analytics and data, more people will be accepted and the market will expand.” [occurred]. I truly believe that the market for these digital assets will continue to grow. ”
Contrary to the common narrative that regulation is the main hurdle to digital asset adoption, Fink argued that other factors are more important. “I don't really believe it's a function of regulation. It's not more regulation or less regulation,” he asserted. “I think it’s about fluidity, transparency and going through that process. […] We built better analytics and data. ”
Mr. Fink also highlighted the transformative potential of blockchain technology and artificial intelligence in expanding the digital asset market. “We believe these blockchain technologies are going to be very additive,” he said. “Then, overlaying AI will enable better data analysis, enabling applicability and expansion of these markets.”
In addition to Bitcoin, Fink specifically mentioned Ethereum and its huge growth potential, saying, “The application of this form of investment will play a role in Ethereum, as it has the potential to grow dramatically as a blockchain.'' I think it will be expanded to.”
Fink, who works on digitizing national currencies, distinguished between digital assets such as Bitcoin and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). “How do countries view their digital currencies? It is a completely different asset than Bitcoin itself,” he clarified. “India and Brazil have had great success in digitizing their currencies for a variety of reasons.”
When speaking about the potential impact of the US presidential election on Bitcoin and the crypto market as a whole, Fink was dismissive of any significant impact. “We don't know whether the president or another candidate is going to make a difference,” he said, suggesting other market forces are the main driver of hiring.
At the time of writing, BTC was trading at $65,600.
Featured image created with DALL.E, chart on TradingView.com
