BlackRock CEO Larry Fink shed his cryptocurrency skeptic shell today and defended Bitcoin as a surveillance tool against authoritarian governments. During a day-long media tour, Fink stopped by Fox Business to discuss the historic week in which the SEC approved 11 Bitcoin ETFs. Fink praised Bitcoin as a store of value and a tool to thwart government economic 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 banned it — if you’re in a country where you’re afraid for your future,” he said, “If you’re afraid of your government, or you’re afraid that your government is devaluing its currency because of the deficit.” “Very large, you could say this is a potentially large store of value over the long term.”
His stance is a far cry from what it was in 2017, when Fink joined JPMorgan CEO and longtime Bitcoin critic Jamie Dimon in speaking out against Bitcoin, with Fink calling Bitcoin “an indicator of money laundering.”
While Fink acknowledged the use of Bitcoin for illicit activities today, he said his view on Bitcoin has begun to change in the midst of the pandemic, telling the broadcaster that there is also a lot of opportunity in Bitcoin.
“I came up with a different explanation three years ago,” Fink said in an interview with Fox Business anchor Charles Gasparino. “There’s a lot of merit to it, there’s a lot of opportunity… (Bitcoin) is a great store, and this is where you can debate whether it’s a good store.”
Given his change of heart, Fink said the issue now is whether people will believe Bitcoin can be an asset that can cross borders.
Despite FTX’s collapse, Fink said, bitcoin has become more legitimate.
“I think the emergence of Bitcoin ETFs is an example of how we are legitimizing it; we are creating more security,” he noted.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday approved the first batch of spot bitcoin ETFs, including ETFs from BlackRock, VanEck, Hashdex, Grayscale and Bitwise.
Bitcoin approached $49,000 on Thursday before falling to $43,000 as excitement around ETF approvals subsided. As of this writing, Bitcoin is hovering just above $42,300, according to CoinMarketCap.
In a separate interview on Friday with CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin, Fink said he sees value in the ETF.
“I see value in having an Ethereum ETF,” Fink said. “Like I said, this is just the beginning of getting started with coding.”
However, Fink demurred when asked about future cryptocurrency-based ETFs, such as Ethereum and, more specifically, Ripple (XRP), declining to comment.
“I can’t, and you don’t want me to do it,” he said.
Edited by Ryan Ozawa.