The CEO of the BlackRock investment company, Larry Fink, said that the future of cryptocurrencies does not depend on the results of the upcoming US presidential election. He also called bitcoin an alternative to gold.
During BlackRock's Q3 2024 earnings call, Larry Fink was asked about his company's potential if the incoming US president's administration is more cryptocurrency-friendly. To this, Fink replied that it does not matter who becomes the president of the United States, because the adoption of digital assets in society will grow in any case. This is because financial institutions around the world are looking for ways to diversify their asset allocation.
Fink emphasized that BlackRock is focused on improving access to the cryptocurrency market through exchange-traded products. He mentioned a recently launched exchange-traded fund (ETF) pegged to ether. The Ishares Ethereum Trust netted over $1 billion in its first two months of trading, following the earlier launch of the Ishares Bitcoin Trust, which grew to $23 billion in its first nine months.
“We believe that Bitcoin is an asset class in itself. It has already become an alternative to other goods and even gold. I don't believe that cryptocurrencies will be entirely dependent on regulation. Liquidity and transparency are much more important. It's no different than it was many years ago when we started the mortgage market - at that time there were high-yield bonds," said the CEO of BlackRock.
Fink also commented on global trends in the creation of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), particularly in the emerging markets of India and Brazil. Blockchain, especially when combined with artificial intelligence (AI) and improved analytics, will help the financial sector as a whole, he predicts.