BlackRock CEO Sings Bitcoin’s Praises as Future ‘Great Asset Class’

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink today said that he is “fascinated” by Bitcoin and that the cryptocurrency could soon become a “great asset class.” 

But the billionaire boss of the world’s biggest asset manager and former Bitcoin skeptic said it would not be a substitute for currencies, in an interview today with CNBC. 

Fink tempered his newfound enthusiasm for Bitcoin by also adding that his company’s investors still haven't expressed much interest in it. 

“I’m still fascinated about it [Bitcoin] and encouraged by how many people are focusing on it,” he said. “I’m encouraged about the narrative, it may become a great asset class and I do believe this could become a great asset class—cryptocurrency.

“I don’t believe it’s a substitute for currencies, I think we’re gonna have cryptocurrencies of dollars, cryptocurrencies of other currencies, but I don’t believe we should think about crypto as a substitute of currency but I am fascinated by it as an asset class.”

The CEO, who is worth over $1.1 billion, according to Forbes, previously wasn’t interested in the asset. In 2017, he called the biggest cryptocurrency by market cap an “index of money laundering.”

“Bitcoin just shows you how much demand for money laundering there is in the world,” he said. 

How times have changed.

Back in December, Fink showed signs that his opinions on the crypto asset had begun to change and said that he could see Bitcoin growing as an asset class. 

And his firm, which manages $9 trillion in assets worldwide, is now warming up to cryptocurrency. In January the firm said in an SEC filing that it could add Bitcoin futures to its funds. The company in March revealed that it already held 37 futures contracts from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. 

“I am still watching,” he said today. “We are investing in it, we’re studying it, we’ve made money on it.”