- BlackRock CEO Larry Fink stated that Bitcoin’s growing popularity is a threat to the U.S dollar’s status as the global reserve currency.
- Fink further revealed that Bitcoin has been the most popular search on its website with over 600,000 hits.
Bitcoin’s rise in popularity threatens the U.S dollar’s status as the global reserve currency, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink has stated. Speaking at a recent virtual event, Fink also revealed that Bitcoin is on his company’s radar and could become a global market.
Fink was speaking to the attendees of a Council on Foreign Relations digital symposium. The investment titan was speaking alongside Mark Carney, the former governor of the Bank of England.
CEO of Blackrock Larry Fink discussing #bitcoin with Mark Carney@PrestonPysh @100trillionUSD @RaoulGMI @DTAPCAP pic.twitter.com/aMQYOXdF4M
— Andrewstotle (@Andrewstotle) December 2, 2020
On the impact of Bitcoins continued rise in popularity and value on the US dollar, Fink stated:
Having a digital currency has a real impact on the U.S dollar. The digital currency makes the need for the U.S dollar to be less relevant. And I’m not talking about America, I’m talking about international holders of dollar-based assets.
The US dollar continues to be the world’s leading reserve currency. According to the IMF, the USD makes up over 60% of all known central bank foreign exchange reserves. 65% of all US dollars are currently being used outside the U.S., facilitating 80% of all trade finance transactions.
Fink believes Bitcoin’s rise could be signaling an end to this USD dominance. He posed the question:
Does it [digital currency]change the need for the dollar as a reserve currency, if there was a true digital currency that was separated from dollar-based assets?
$6 trillion giant endorses Bitcoin
Fink further revealed that BlackRock investors have developed a great curiosity about Bitcoin. The digital currency has had the most hits on the BlackRock website, well ahead of COVID-19 and monetary policy. Bitcoin had 600,000 hits, with COVID-19 and monetary policy each gaining only 3,000 hits.
“What that tells you is that Bitcoin has caught the attention and the imagination of many people,” he stated.
Fink, who is one of the world’s most respected managers, believes that Bitcoin can grow to become a global market. The 68-year-old is the co-founder of BlackRock, the world’s largest money management firm in the world. Having founded the firm in 1988, he has grown it to a global giant, with close to $7 trillion in assets under management. He stated:
Can [Bitcoin] evolve into a global market? Possibly. [Bitcoin is] still untested, a pretty small market relative to other markets. You see these big giant moves every day. It’s a thin market.
Fink’s positive sentiment comes just days after BlackRock’s chief investment officer Rick Rieder stated in an interview that ‘Bitcoin is here to stay.’ Rieder told CNBC that millennials have continued to embrace digital payments, and with it, Bitcoin.
Wow. BlackRock CIO of Fixed Income Rick Rieder talking about Bitcoin replacing gold on CNBC this morning. pic.twitter.com/9KZR0muJVp
— Pomp 🌪 (@APompliano) November 20, 2020
Rieder declined from commenting on whether Bitcoin’s price is justified. However, he stated that Bitcoin will take the place of gold as a reserve currency. He further described Bitcoin as a “durable mechanism that is so much more functional than passing a bar of gold around.”
