How Crypto Transcends International Currencies – BlackRock CEO

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink on Crypto

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink has recently expressed his support for cryptocurrencies and their potential for democratizing investing around the world, mentioning that his company’s clients are becoming increasingly interested in digital assets.

“Our global investors are asking us about crypto more and more,” Fink said during an interview with CNBC’s Squawk on the Street. BlackRock is the world’s largest asset manager, managing assets worth over $8 trillion.

Fink believes that cryptocurrencies can provide a “differentiating value” compared to other asset classes, as they are “so international it’s going to transcend any one currency.”

When asked about BlackRock’s application for a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States, Fink declined to comment, as the filing is still pending with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF Application

“We are working with our regulators in order to ensure that, if our name is attached to it, the Bitcoin ETF will be safe and sound,” said BlackRock CEO Larry Fink.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has rejected several applications to list a Bitcoin (BTC) ETF on the spot market in the past. However, BlackRock’s filing has raised expectations of an imminent approval, as the asset manager has had a great success rate in getting ETFs approved. According to Bloomberg Intelligence’s Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart, BlackRock has filed for 550 ETF applications and has only been rejected once.

“We believe that it is our responsibility to make investing more accessible. We have achieved a lot in this regard and the role of ETFs in the world is changing the way people invest. We are just at the beginning of this journey,” Fidelity said in the interview.

BlackRock’s application has been followed by several refilings for similar ETF products in the United States from asset managers such as Velo Crypto, YouTube Crypto, Big Bear AI, 21Shares, WisdomTree, Investco and ADA Crypto Today.

As American investment managers await the SEC’s ruling, Jacobi Asset Management, a London-based firm, is set to launch Europe’s first Bitcoin ETF later this year. The launch was initially planned for 2022 but was delayed due to the bear market. According to Jacobi, the demand for crypto has been slowly increasing since last year.

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