In a post shared on Thursday via x, Lloyd Blankfein, former CEO of Goldman Sachs, acknowledged a potential competitive dynamic between bitcoin and the US dollar in the context of global reserve currencies. Blankfein, who previously held skeptical views on digital assets, acknowledged that btc's growth may place it in direct competition with the United States' long-standing monetary hegemony.
Referring to US President-elect Donald Trump's plans to establish a strategic bitcoin reserve, Blankfein <a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/lloydblankfein/status/1864787567649964181″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener nofollow”>wrote: “Trump spoke correctly about the importance of defending the exclusivity of the dollar as a world reserve currency. It helps American trade, finances our deficit, and drives American policy decisions on our enemies and frenemies. So why is the new administrator so hell-bent on promoting BITC?
bitcoin community reactions
Pierre Rochard, vice president of research at publicly traded mining company Riot Platforms (NASDAQ: RIOT), publicly <a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/BitcoinPierre/status/1864799887180603495″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener nofollow”>noted via
John Haar, who runs Private Client Services at Swan and previously worked as a Wall Street portfolio manager and institutional investor for 13 years, offered a contrarian perspective to Blankfein via x: “Maybe they're not so mutually exclusive? The USD/Treasury bonds are likely to continue in their role as the dominant global reserve currency/asset… even as bitcoin continues to grow in market cap and adoption. Also related, why does any government have gold reserves?
Similarly, Matthew Pines, National Security Fellow at the bitcoin Policy Institute, framed btc expansion as aligned with broader US strategic interests: “bitcoin directly aligns with US geoeconomic interests in containing US digital authoritarianism.” China, shore up the Treasury-dollar system and reinforce our values around the world.”
David Marcus, CEO and co-founder of Lightspark and previously a key figure in Meta's digital asset initiatives, downplayed the notion that btc threatens the supremacy of the dollar: “bitcoin is not a threat to the supremacy of the dollar. It will not compete as a unit of account for daily payments. It is a digital version of gold with 100 times more utility and will be used as a neutral digital settlement asset across systems and currencies. “btc will strengthen the USD.”
Eric Weiss, CEO of bitcoin Investment Group, echoed Marcus’ sentiment, stating: “bitcoin will help prop up and proliferate the USD globally. Truly synergistic.”
Blankfein's current stance fits with his previous position on btc and cryptocurrencies. In 2021, he publicly questioned bitcoin's viability as a store of value and suggested that regulators should be deeply concerned about its rise. At the time he commented: “I may be skeptical, but I'm also pragmatic about it. And then guess what? I would certainly like to have a paddle in that water.”
By January 2022, Blankfein's position had begun to evolve. In an appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” he emphasized the growing maturity of the bitcoin ecosystem, noting: “Look, my view on it is evolving. I can't predict the future, but I think it's very important to be able to predict the present, like, 'What's happening?' And I look at cryptocurrencies and it is happening.” Blankfein clarified that by “happening” he was referring to the general maturation of the market.
At the time of this publication, btc was trading at $97,793.
Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
