Bitcoin Could "Revolutionize Finance" - BlackRock CEO Larry Fink
His shocking reversal as Bitcoin hits 13-month high
They’re capitulating. The fiat money managers. The CEOs. The rich and powerful.
J.P. Morgan’s Jamie Dimon, Bridgewater Capital’s Ray Dalio, billionaire investors Bill Miller and Stanley Druckenmiller.
And now BlackRock CEO Larry Fink. BlackRock, with $9 trillion under management.
Bitcoin as a viable asset class is getting its due. The Wall Street legends listed above are starting to see that Bitcoin has a place in many investment portfolios. As a hedge against a depreciating fiat currency. As a long-term store of value. And as an asset class with a strictly limited supply.
Fink, who once declared Bitcoin “an index of money laundering, that’s all it is,” has come full circle and is now working on several Bitcoin projects. BlackRock began working with Coinbase last year to develop crypto services that their wealthy investors could be comfortable with. And just last month, BlackRock applied to the SEC for permission to launch its own spot Bitcoin ETF. That is a pretty big deal.
Over twenty firms have filed such applications, and all that have been decided so far have been rejected. But, the fact that BlackRock and Fidelity filed at the same time leads some to believe that they may know how to get it right. Or that the two investing giants have some inside knowledge. We’ll see.
"We have a good track record working with our regulators and trying to make sure we're thinking about all the issues around any filing," Fink said.
"What we’re trying to do with crypto is make it more democratized, and make it much cheaper for investors," Fink told Fox Business.
That sounds promising. Maybe the Securities and Exchange Commission will see it that way too.
Dalio, who runs the world’s largest hedge fund said on Twitter, just six months ago, "I can’t imagine central banks, big institutional investors, businesses or multinational companies using it. If I’m wrong about these things I would love to be corrected."
Dalio now sees potential for Bitcoin to be a “gold-like alternative.”
"I think that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have over the last ten years established themselves as interesting gold-like asset alternatives, with similarities and differences to gold and other limited-supply, mobile (unlike real estate) storeholds of wealth,” Dalio posted on Reddit.
But as recently as 2017, Dalio had declared Bitcoin a “bubble” and said it could not be an effective store of wealth, due to its greater volatility than gold. Seems he might have changed his tune. And yes, Bitcoin’s volatility has decreased in recent years.
Billionaire investor Bill Miller said, back in November, that he “strongly recommends Bitcoin. And another big-time investor, Stanley Druckenmiller, has revealed that he has warmed up to investing in Bitcoin, and now owns “some Bitcoin.”
Let’s see -
Ray Dalio
Larry Fink
Bill Miller
Stanley Druckenmiller
Elon Musk
Michael Saylor
Mark Cuban
Paul Tudor Jones
Jack Dorsey
Cameron & Tyler Winklevoss
Some pretty big names, with big money, see potential in Bitcoin. And some people like to say, “follow the money.” It could be a pretty good long-term strategy.
Or, as a sarcastic Twitter post might say, “Probably nothing.”
Don’t follow these investors blindly. Do your own research. Only invest in assets you understand. And, as always, invest for the long-term.
FunFact:
On this date in 2017, just six years ago, the price of Bitcoin was:
$1,930.
It’s currently trading at around $31,000.
Fun Fact #2:
Around 19.5 million Bitcoins have been mined to date, out of a total possible supply of 21 million. That leaves only about 1.5 million left to mine.
And, of the total mined, it is estimated that around 70% of them haven’t moved in a year or more. Long-term hodlers, with diamond hands.
As Satoshi said, “You might just want to pick some up, in case it catches on.”
Thanks for reading. Please share this letter with some future-coiners.
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Issue No. 116, July 7, 2023
Rick Mulvey is a CPA, crypto consultant, and frequent contributor to Bitcoin Magazine. He writes about all things Bitcoin, and yells at the Yankees and Giants. He also runs marathons and makes wine, neither professionally.