During BlackRock's third-quarter earnings conference call, CEO Larry Fink expressed strong support for bitcoin and digital assets. Fink's comment not only highlighted bitcoin as a standalone asset class, but also compared its growing importance to historical financial markets such as mortgages now worth $11 trillion and high-yield bonds.
BlackRock CEO praises bitcoin
“We believe bitcoin is an asset class in itself,” Fink x.com/EricBalchunas/status/1845944946991276494″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener nofollow”>fixed unequivocally. “It is an alternative to other raw materials such as gold.” He also revealed that BlackRock is actively collaborating with institutions around the world on digital asset allocation. “The conversations we are having with institutions around the world are about how they should think about digital assets, what kind of asset allocation there should be,” he explained.
Fink emphasized the inevitability of digital assets becoming a global reality: “I believe that the utilization of digital assets will increasingly become a reality around the world.” Drawing parallels to the early days of the mortgage and high-yield markets, Fink suggested that digital assets are on a similar trajectory of growth and acceptance.
“Years ago when we started the mortgage market, years ago when the high-yield market emerged, they started very slowly, but they developed as we built better analytics and data,” he recalled. “Through better analytics and data, (greater acceptance and market expansion occurred). “I really think we will see an expansion of the market for these digital assets.”
Contrary to the common narrative that regulation is the main obstacle to digital asset adoption, Fink argued that other factors are more critical. “I really don't think it's a function of regulation, more regulation, less regulation,” he said. “I think it's a function of liquidity, transparency and then through that process, it's no different than when … better analytics and data were built.”
Fink also highlighted the transformative potential of blockchain technology and artificial intelligence in expanding digital asset markets. “We think the technology of these blockchains will become very additive,” he said. “Then ai will be overlaid, and by having better data analytics, there will be applicability and scaling of these markets.”
In addition to bitcoin, Fink specifically mentioned ethereum, highlighting its capacity for significant growth: “I think the application of this form of investment will expand to ethereum's role as a blockchain that can grow dramatically.”
Addressing the digitization of national currencies, Fink distinguished between digital assets such as bitcoin and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). “How does each and every country see their own digital currency? “It is a very different asset than bitcoin itself,” he clarified. “We are seeing great success in India and Brazil in digitizing their own currency for a number of different reasons.”
Discussing the potential impact of the US presidential election on bitcoin and the entire cryptocurrency market, Fink dismissed any significant effects. “I'm not sure if the president or another candidate would make a difference,” he said, suggesting that other market forces are the main drivers of adoption.
At the time of publication, btc was trading at $65,600.
Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
