BlackRock CEO Larry Fink Calls Bitcoin ‘International Assets’, Talks to Democratize Crypto

BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager with $9 trillion in assets under management, has recently turned bullish on Bitcoin and the broader cryptocurrency space after filing for the spot Bitcoin ETF last month.

Speaking to Fox Business on Wednesday, July 5, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink heaped praises for Bitcoin calling it an ‘international asset’. “Let’s be clear: Bitcoin is an international asset. It’s not based on any one currency, and so it can represent an asset that people can play as an alternative,” he said.

Fink added that the role of cryptocurrency was largely “digitizing gold” while adding that how an ETF directly linked to Bitcoin could democratize finance. He also said that with their spot Bitcoin ETF application, they are trying to make crypto accessible to everyone.

He added: "What we're trying to do with crypto is make it more democratized with all of crypto and making it much cheaper for investors. The bid spread for crypto is very expensive. It does erode a lot of the returns….because it costs a lot of money right now to transact Bitcoin and it costs a lot of money to get out of that. And so, we hope that our regulators look at these filings that as a way to democratize crypto and we'll see in the future how that plays out”.

ETFs have brought about a significant revolution in the mutual fund industry and are rapidly gaining prominence. We firmly believe that expanding the tokenization of assets and securities, similar to what Bitcoin offers, has the potential to revolutionize the financial sector once again, explained the BlackRock CEO.

Fink recommended Bitcoin as a way for investors to protect themselves against inflation or the decline in value of specific currencies. As the CEO of the world's largest asset management company, which oversees over $9 trillion in assets, Fink's positive stance on cryptocurrencies could have a significant impact on the industry.

Many people on social media responded positively to Fink's interview, and some even suggested that his words could cause the prices of certain assets to increase significantly, calling it the "Fink Pump." As of now, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) is $30,473, with a slight 1% decrease in the last 24 hours.

BlackRock, led by Fink, has been trying to launch a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) that allows investors to trade Bitcoin. They have partnered with cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase to ensure proper monitoring. However, it is uncertain whether the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will approve the ETF, as they have rejected all previous Bitcoin ETF applications so far.

After BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF application last month, the Bitcoin (BTC) price gained 25% hitting its 2023 high of $31,000 earlier this week.