{"id":23610,"date":"2023-06-16T16:19:10","date_gmt":"2023-06-16T20:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/investing\/blackrocks-larry-fink-once-said-his-clients-had-zero-interest-in-crypto-heres-how-things-have-changed-since-2018\/"},"modified":"2023-06-16T16:19:11","modified_gmt":"2023-06-16T20:19:11","slug":"blackrocks-larry-fink-once-said-his-clients-had-zero-interest-in-crypto-heres-how-things-have-changed-since-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=23610","title":{"rendered":"BlackRock\u2019s Larry Fink once said his clients had zero interest in crypto. Here\u2019s how things have changed since 2018."},"content":{"rendered":"
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BlackRock, the world\u2019s largest asset manager, filed an application on Thursday for an exchange-traded fund backed by bitcoin in the U.S.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This is notable for a couple of reasons. First, there are currently no such products in the U.S. The SEC approved several bitcoin
\n BTCUSD,
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\n futures-based ETFs in the past, but it has yet to greenlight anything that is backed by bitcoin.<\/p>\n

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Secondly, BlackRock
\n BLK,
\n -1.18%<\/bg-quote>
\n \u2018s filing also represents a drastic shift in the firm\u2019s attitude towards crypto since 2018, when Larry Fink, the chairman and chief executive at the firm, told Bloomberg that he hadn\u2019t heard from any clients who were seeking out crypto exposure.<\/p>\n

So as cryptocurrencies evolved into a $1 trillion market, here\u2019s how Fink\u2019s comments about the asset class have changed over time, as well as how BlackRock has expanded its footprint in the digital asset space.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2017, <\/strong>Fink said that the rapid ascent of cryptocurrencies \u201cidentifies how much money laundering there is being done in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am a big believer in the potential in what cryptocurrencies can do,\u201d Fink said a few years ago, during a Bloomberg interview at the BlackRock Fixed Income ETF conference in New York. He also said that he saw \u201chuge opportunities,\u201d but that presently the atmosphere around bitcoin was \u201cmore speculative.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2018, <\/strong>during the aforementioned interview with Bloomberg, Fink said that BlackRock was \u201clooking at\u201d the blockchain technologies, but added, \u201cI don\u2019t believe any client has sought out crypto exposure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cI have not heard from any one client that they\u2019re looking to buy a cryptocurrency,\u201d he famously said at the time. And the video clip of this interview was making the rounds on Twitter on Friday, following the news of BlackRock filing for bitcoin ETF.<\/p>\n

But then in 2020, <\/strong>Fink said that while the bitcoin market was still relatively small compared with other markets, it was possible that it could evolve into a global market.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBitcoin has caught the attention and the imagination of many people. Still untested, pretty small market relative to other markets,\u201d he said. You see \u201cthese big giant moves every day (in bitcoin)\u2026it\u2019s a thin market. Can it evolve into a global market? Possibly,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Weeks before that, BlackRock\u2019s chief investment officer in fixed income, Rick Rieder, had even speculated that bitcoin could take some of the shine off gold, possibly one day rivaling the precious metal\u2019s unimpeachable stature over the past 5,000 years as a store of value and a hedge against the devaluing of fiat currencies.<\/p>\n

Then in 2021,<\/strong> BlackRock filed to offer clients exposure to bitcoin futures as an eligible investment to two of its funds\u00a0through two funds.<\/p>\n

In that same year, Fink said in an CNBC interview<\/a> that there was a \u201chuge role for a digitized currency,\u201d whether it was \u201cbitcoin, or something else, or more of a government official digital currency, digital dollar.\u201d<\/p>\n

By March 2022, <\/strong>it seemed that BlackRock clients were definitely interested in crypto. Fink wrote in a letter to shareholders that BlackRock was studying digital currencies, stablecoins and the underlying technologies, as the firm had seen increasing interest from its clients. What\u2019s more, Fink added that the Russia-Ukraine war could accelerate the use of digital currencies. <\/p>\n

A few months later, in August 2022, <\/strong>BlackRock said it was partnering with Coinbase to offer direct access to bitcoin to some institutional clients. Common clients of Coinbase and BlackRock\u2019s investment management platform Aladdin would get access to crypto trading, custody, prime brokerage, and reporting capabilities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That same month, BlackRock said it was launching a spot bitcoin private trust for institutional clients in the United States. <\/p>\n

By November 2022, <\/strong>Circle said it would begin moving the reserves for its USDC stablecoin into a dedicated fund set up by BlackRock and registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Which brings us to June 2023<\/strong>, with BlackRock filing an application for a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund. It will tap Coinbase Global Inc.\u00a0to provide custody for the ETF, while regulators are increasing their oversight of the crypto industry. The SEC recently sued crypto exchanges\u00a0Binance\u00a0and\u00a0Coinbase,\u00a0charging they operated unlicensed securities exchanges.<\/p>\n

Read: <\/strong>BlackRock is applying for a spot bitcoin ETF. Here\u2019s why it matters to the crypto industry.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n