BlackRock CEO Larry Fink has declared his support of Bitcoin, describing the leading cryptocurrency as an "international asset" with the potential to transform the financial industry, he said.
"What we're trying to do with crypto is make it more democratized with all of crypto and making it much cheaper for investors" Fink told Fox Business. "The bid spread for crypto is very expensive. It does erode a lot of the returns … because it costs a lot of money right now to transact Bitcoin and it costs a lot of money to get out of that. And so, we hope that our regulators look at these filings that as a way to democratize crypto and we'll see in the future how that plays out."
BlackRock submitted paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in June to create an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that invests in Bitcoin directly in order to accomplish its goal, Cryptonews Reported. In the wake of that announcement, several investment issuers hurried to submit comparable applications, which drove cost of Bitcoin to above $30,000. The value of the cryptocurrency increased by 12% in June alone, and by an astounding 80% since the start of the year, the report stated. In a recent revision of BlackRock's application, NASDAQ included new information to clarify that Coinbase will be in charge of monitoring the market for the new product.
Fink also stressed the significance of SEC regulatory approval, saying the BlackRock wishes to collaborate closely with regulators to guarantee a successful launch.
Fink had initially expressed concerns about potential criminal activity related to cryptocurrency, but he now views it as a globally competitive alternative asset, Cryptonews reported. According to brokerage firm Bernstein, chances are good that the SEC will soon approve a spot Bitcoin ETF.
According to recent research study, there is growing pressure on the SEC to approve a spot Bitcoin ETF, especially because SEC has already approved leverage-based futures ETFs and bitcoin ETFs with a futures component, the report stated. Such licenses are justified by the fact that regulated exchanges like the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) provide futures pricing, according to Cryptonews.
