Bitcoin ETF could democratize crypto: BlackRock CEO

• Larry Fink is of the belief that BTC ETFs could make crypto democratized.
• Spot ETFs have led to a rise in BTC’s prices.

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink says that its spot Bitcoin [BTC] exchange-traded fund (ETFs) will make crypto more democratized. He said that the role of cryptocurrency was largely “digitizing gold.”

Fink made these remarks while speaking on Fox Business on 5 July.

The BlackRock CEO suggested that U.S. regulators should consider how an ETF directly linked to BTC could democratize finance. He believed that Bitcoin is an international asset, saying:

“It’s not based on any one currency, and so it can represent an asset that people can play as an alternative.”

However, Gabor Gurbacs, Director, Digital Assets Strategy of VanEck, was quick to remind the Twitter community about Fink’s earlier views regarding Bitcoin. Back in 2017, Fink had referred to Bitcoin as an “index of money laundering.”

Microstrategy founder Michael Saylor approvingly quoted Link’s recent remarks on Twitter.

Fink also proposed that investors may use Bitcoin as a hedge against inflation or currency depreciation.

The CEO had earlier batted for the decentralized nature of the crypto industry. When FTX collapsed in November 2022, he reasoned that FTX failed because it created its native centralized token. This, according to him, was in complete contrast with the “whole foundation of what crypto is.”

He had made these remarks at the New York Times’ 2022 Dealbook Summit.

Will the SEC approve BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF application?

Under Fink’s leadership, BlackRock tried to begin a spot Bitcoin ETF with cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase acting as a surveillance partner. We do not know if the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will approve it as of the time of writing, given that the regulatory body has rejected all previously filed applications so far.

BlackRock is the world’s leading asset management company. It had more than $9 trillion in assets under management, Bloomberg reported in April.

BlackRock and other asset management firms filing for spot Bitcoin ETFs have led to a BTC price rally. At press time, BTC was trading above $31K, reflecting a modest rise of 1.5% in the previous 24 hours.