BlackRock CEO Likens Crypto to Digital Gold, Says Bitcoin May “Revolutionise Finance’’

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said cryptocurrencies are “digitizing gold’’ and that Bitcoin may help ‘’revolutionise finance,’’ underscoring why the world’s biggest money manager is striving to launch a landmark spot bitcoin ETF.

Fink’s comments, made in a Fox Business interview on Wednesday, came hard on the heels of the world’s biggest money manager’s application on June 15 to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch a spot Bitcoin ETF, which ignited a rally in cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin has jumped almost 23% since BlackRock’s application was filed and Bitcoin Cash is up 187%.

“Let’s be clear, Bitcoin is an international asset, it’s not based on any one currency and so it can represent an asset that people can play as an alternative,’’ Fink said. “The role of crypto is digitizing gold, in many ways.’’

Blackrock’s clout and its extraordinary record at getting SEC filings approved, which Bloomberg Intelligence puts at 575 wins to just one rejection, has raised hopes of a breakthrough ETF for Bitcoin.  The approval of such a vehicle, backed by a pillar of the investment establishment, would be a boost for the nascent asset class.

Other firms rushing to get spot bitcoin ETFs approved include Fidelity, Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest, Invesco, VanEck, and WisdomTree. On Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported people familiar with the matter saying that the SEC feels the filings for spot Bitcoin ETFs by BlackRock and others are inadequate and lack clarity and comprehensiveness. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies tumbled on the news before regaining ground.

BlackRock’s application was resubmitted earlier this week to include additional details and address concerns raised by the regulator regarding the initial application.

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink compares bitcoin to digital gold as ETF applications at SEC stack up https://t.co/4QMVvE6GGR @MKTWgoldstein A crypto flip flop worthy of @jimcramer

— Matthew Tuttle (@TuttleCapital) July 6, 2023

Fink’s latest comments help complete a remarkable U-turn by a man who back in 2017 described Bitcoin as an ”index of money laundering.” He told Fox Business that he was previously sceptical because Bitcoin was, in its early days, ”heavily used for, let’s say, illicit assets.”

BlackRock Believes in Digitizing Assets

Fink went on to say that BlackRock, which has funds of about $9 trillion under management, believes in digitizing assets and aims to make investing in cryptocurrencies cheaper and more accessible.

“We hope our regulators look at these filings as a way to democratize crypto,’’ he said. “We do believe that if we can create more tokenization of assets and securities — and that’s what Bitcoin is — it can revolutionise again finance.”

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