The number of BlackRock executives speaking highly of Bitcoin has just doubled with the CEO of the world’s largest asset manager. Larry Fink recently said that BTC had caught the attention of many people, and it could evolve into a global market.
Following Bitcoin’s impressive Q4 performance that resulted in painting a fresh all-time high on some cryptocurrency exchanges, the asset has garnered mass attention once again.
Apart from being frequently featured on traditional media outlets, numerous prominent figures from the financial world have offered their opinions. Some of them have even completed a 180-turn on their BTC views.
BlackRock’s Chief Executive Officer seems to be the latest. Back in 2017, Larry Fink said that BTC is an “index of money laundering. That’s all it is.” However, it has taken about three years for Fink to change his mind, as CNBC reported.
Speaking to the former Bank of England Governor Mark Carney at the Council of Foreign Regulations, Fink asserted that BTC could evolve into a global market.
“Bitcoin has caught the attention and the imagination of many people. Still untested, pretty small market relative to other markets. It sees these big giant moves every day… it’s a thin market. Can it evolve into a global market? Possibly.”
It’s worth noting that another BlackRock executive, the Chief Investment Officer Rick Rieder, recently argued that BTC is “here to stay” and it could replace gold.
Fink also touched upon another topic that’s perhaps even more notable for Bitcoin. He believes that the existence of the primary cryptocurrency has a “real impact” on the US dollar. Fink asserted that BTC makes the USD less relevant “not for Americans, but for international holders of dollar-based assets.”
BlackRock’s CEO further explained that BTC’s rise had questioned the dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency.
US Congressman Brad Sherman previously breached the narrative that Bitcoin could be a threat to the US dollar. Last year, he warned that there could be two outcomes for BTC, but both would ultimately be harmful either for the country or for investors:
“The cryptocurrency either doesn’t work, in which case investors lose a lot of money, or it does achieve its objectives perhaps and displaces the US dollar…”
Featured Image Courtesy of BBC
