Larry Fink flips on bitcoin, ‘digital gold’ not ‘index for money laundering’
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BlackRock CEO Larry Fink appeared on CNBC today to announce that he’s pivoted his stance on bitcoin. Once a staunch skeptic, the $10.6 trillion asset management executive explained that he now believes bitcoin is akin to ‘digital gold.’
Speaking with Jim Cramer and Carl Quintanilla, when asked about Bitcoin and Ethereum Fink said, “I was a skeptic. I was a proud skeptic. And I studied it, learned about it, and I came away saying, okay, my opinion for five years was wrong… I believe bitcoin is legitimate… it is a legitimate financial instrument.”
That view is quite different from comments he made in 2017 when he called bitcoin an “index for money laundering.”
Read more: BlackRock ETF might open door to institutional shorting of bitcoin
Bitcoin for making money, not hope
Fink went on to explain that bitcoin has a place in portfolios to hedge against currency debasement and international exposure and to serve as a haven amid fear. He also referred to bitcoin as “digital gold” and admitted that it has “industrial use.”
At the end of his TV segment, Fink denied that bitcoin is ‘hope’ — a Michael Saylor marketing slogan — instead saying that he thinks people invest in bitcoin simply to make money.
BlackRock also hit the headlines today for its links to Thomas Matthew Crooks, the failed assassin at Donald Trump’s July 13, rally. Last year, the firm produced a commercial about a Pennsylvania teacher’s use of BlackRock’s retirement planning services that briefly featured the young Crooks.
BlackRock has deleted its public archives of the ad, which included two fleeting appearances of Crooks as a student. Crooks appeared at the 3 and 19 second timestamps and had no speaking lines.
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