BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said Bitcoin (BTC) is on his company's radar in the wake of the digital currency's rapid rise over the past few months.
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"Bitcoin has caught the attention and imagination of a lot of people," Fink said at the Council on Foreign Relations alongside former Bank of England Governor Mark Carney. It is still untested and very young compared to other markets.
He then added: Can it develop into a global market? Maybe.
Fink is not the only BlackRock CEO touting the potential value of Bitcoin. Last month, the company's investment manager, Rick Reader, told CNBC that Bitcoin is not only here to stay but will largely replace gold.
> In the past, comments like this would have been considered largely unusual from corporate officials, let alone the world's largest asset manager with assets under management of around 7 $ 4 trillion, as of 2019.
But the public's perception of Bitcoin has changed dramatically over the past year. The record flows into Grayscale products, the growth of Bitcoin Treasuries, and the Guggenheim SEC adjusting to gain exposure to Bitcoin represent a seismic shift in institutional adoption.
Besides these moves, investment legend Paul Theodore Jones and Stanley Druckenmiller also support Bitcoin.
and institutional demand for Bitcoin has caused an alarming shortage in the market, with the likes of PayPal and CashUp collecting most, if not all, of the newly mined bitcoin. PayPal alone buys nearly 70% of the new offer, according to Panetera Capital.
Currently, only 900 Bitcoins are mined every day. With demand increasing after the halving in May, prices are likely to continue rising. Even Citibank predicts a relatively astronomical Bitcoin price by the end of 2021.
and although BlackRock does not directly own Bitcoin, it has indirect exposure to the asset through MicroStrategy, a business intelligence company that has converted its balance sheet into Bitcoin. . BlackRock is the largest investor in MicroStrategic with a 15.2% stake in the company.
