BlackRock CEO Larry Fink completely shed his crypto-skeptic shell today and defended Bitcoin as a check against tyrannical governments. During a day-long media tour, Fink stopped by Fox Business to discuss this remarkable week in which the SEC approved 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs. Fink lauded Bitcoin as a store of value and a tool to disrupt economic state manipulation.
“Let's be clear: If you're in a country where you're afraid of your government, and maybe that's one of the reasons China blocked it — if you're in a country where you're afraid of your future, because you're afraid of your government or your government is devaluing the currency with a lot of deficits, you can say this is a big long-term store of value,” he said.
Fink is a far cry from where he stood in 2017 when he joined JP Morgan CEO and longtime Bitcoin critic Jamie Dimon in speaking out against Bitcoin.
While Fink recognizes that Bitcoin is used in illegitimate activities today, his views on Bitcoin have begun to shift amid the pandemic, saying there is a lot of opportunity for the broadcaster in Bitcoin as well.
“Three years ago I came to it and another interpretation,” he said in an interview with Fox Business anchor Charles Gasparino. “There's a lot of use for it, there's a lot of potential… [Bitcoin] It is a very good store, and if it is a good store, you can argue here.
Given his change of heart, the question now is whether people believe Bitcoin can be a cross-border asset.
Despite the failure of FTX, Fink, Bitcoin is becoming more and more legitimate.
“I think the advent of Bitcoin ETFs is an example of us becoming legitimate; We are creating more security,” he said.
On Wednesday, the US Securities and Exchange Commission approved the first batch of Bitcoin ETFs, including ETFs from BlackRock, VanEck, Hashdex, Grayscale and Bitwise.
Bitcoin reached $49,000 on Thursday before falling to $43,000 as excitement surrounding ETF approvals subsided. As of this writing, Bitcoin is hovering above $42,300, according to CoinMarketCap.
In a separate Friday interview with CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin, Fink said he's looking at value in the Ethereum ETF.
“I see value in having an Ethereum ETF,” Fink said. “Like I said, these are starting to rise to the level of tokenism.”
Fink, however, declined to comment when asked about the future of crypto-based ETFs, such as Ethereum and — in particular — XRP.
“I can't,” he said, “and you don't want me to.
Edited by Ryan Ozawa.
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