BlackRock CEO Larry Fink declared Bitcoin an asset class comparable to gold

According to Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, Bitcoin (BTC) is an asset class with investment potential comparable to gold.

On a recent earnings call, Fink emphasized that the world's largest asset manager now sees Bitcoin as an alternative to traditional commodities.

Bitcoin is an asset class.

“We believe Bitcoin is an asset class in itself. It's an alternative to other commodities like gold,” the 71-year-old said during the call, pointing out that BlackRock is discussing a possible allocation with international institutions.

Fink emphasized that the future success of digital assets is not limited to control. He said liquidity and transparency will be more critical in determining the market's evolution.

The CEO compared the current landscape of virtual assets and the $11 trillion mortgage market. He pointed out that crypto is still in its infancy but could experience similar growth as better data and analytics become available.

“We've seen this in the mortgage and high yield markets. It started slowly, but as better analytics and data became available, the market gained wider acceptance,” he said.

Digitization of national currencies

The California native also talked about digitizing national currencies. He specifically mentioned the potential and the role that digital will play in earning the US dollar. He cited successful examples from India and Brazil that adopted the technology.

In addition, Fink believes that the integration of artificial intelligence and improved data analytics can lead to the expansion and widespread adoption of digital asset markets.

His comments coincided with rising Bitcoin ETF earnings. October 14 marked one of the strongest days for financial products since their debut in January.

Data from Farside Investors shows that spot Bitcoin ETFs attracted $555.9 million in new inflows that day alone. BlackRock's own IBIT ETF pulled in $79.5 million, behind Fidelity FBTC, which led the day with $239.3 million, and Bitwise BTB, with $101.1 million.

The global investment management firm's embrace of Bitcoin has been pivotal in the crypto space. In January, he launched the Bitcoin ETF, a place that encourages the value of the cryptocurrency to record highs.

He repeated the trick in July, expanding his digital asset portfolio by introducing the Space Ethereum ETF. The latter attracted modest revenues compared to its Bitcoin counterpart, which the company still considers a modest success.