BlackRock Is 'Studying' Crypto, Which Could Someday Play Role Akin to Gold, CEO Says: Report
The financial services giant is monitoring regulation and development of infrastructure, among other issues.
May 26, 2021 at 3:36 p.m. UTCUpdated Sep 14, 2021 at 1:02 p.m. UTC
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BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said on Wednesday the company is studying the potential of cryptocurrencies to serve as long-term investments though it's too early to tell if they're “just a speculative trading tool” due to their volatility, Reuters reported.
- Cryptocurrencies could someday play a role in long-term investing as an asset class similar to gold, Fink said at the company's annual meeting in response to a shareholder question asking whether the company would invest in bitcoin.
- “The firm has monitored the evolution of crypto assets. We are studying what it means, the infrastructure, the regulatory landscape,” Reuters quoted Fink as saying.
- For now, though, crypto is too volatile to serve as an investment for BlackRock, which is a long-term investor, Fink said. The CEO noted broker dealers are by and large the ones making the big money from the volatility of cryptocurrencies and their wide bid-ask spreads, Reuters said.
Read more: BlackRock Has Begun Trading Bitcoin Futures
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