Blackrock CEO Larry Fink has pointed out that crypto technology is still relevant, which he noted amid the FTX fallout.
Crypto Uncertainty
Crypto uncertainty has been a hot topic in the financial world since the fallout of the FTX and Alameda Research scandal. Blackrock CEO, Larry Fink, called crypto technology relevant while attending an event hosted by the New York Times Dealbook earlier this week. He said that most crypto firms “are not going to be around” going forward.
This comment surprises many because Blackrock is one of the largest asset managers in the world, with over $6 trillion in assets under management. Their CEO’s positive outlook on crypto could signal a change in traditional finance adoption of Crypto technologies like Blockchain and NFTs.
The cryptocurrency market has been through many ups and downs over the past few years. The most recent example is the Crypto firm FTX which collapsed after losing millions of dollars worth of customer funds. This event has left many wondering if cryptocurrencies are here to stay or just a fad.
Crypto is Relevant
Blackrock CEO Larry Fink addressed the relevancy question at the event. He said that “We’re going to have to wait to see how this all plays out (with FTX),” and added, “I mean, right now, we can make all the judgment calls and it looks like there were misbehaviours of major consequences.” This would signal that he thinks it is more a case of bad actors in the industry than a bad industry itself. Blackrock invested $24 million in the disgraced firm run by Sam Bankman – Fried and his cohorts.
Fink said that he thinks blockchain technology is “really important” and will be used by many different industries going forward, especially in finance and that “I believe the next generation for markets and next generation for securities will be tokenization of securities.”
In the latest Fed minutes, Jerome Powell indicated that the size of rate hikes might be slowing down, this gave a slight boost to Bitcoin and Ethereum trading 4 and 6 percent higher, respectively, this week, but he added that they would probably hike rates higher than initially planned; thus the markets will continue to look volatile.
Rocco Strydom is the Founder of SGM Holdings – finance, energy and media and is the host of the
SGM podcast based in South Africa
