One thing which Bitcoin has done in its run up from less than US$20,000 to its current ATH of more than US$50,000 is converting the skeptics to believers. The latest convert is the venerable behemoth-size of a company BlackRock which manages about US$7 trillion in assets worldwide.
In an interview with CNBC today, BlackRock CIO Rick Rieder said the following “I won’t comment or give a number on how much [Bitcoin] BlackRock holds in its portfolio, however looking at its growing demand I would say we have started to dabble in it.”
He continued “My sense is that technology and regulation has evolved to the point where a number of people think it should be a part of their portfolio.”
Back in 2017, BlackRock’s CEO Larry Fink called Bitcoin an “index of money laundering”. Three years later, in an about turn, it seems BlackRock is onboard the cryptocurrency bandwagon. It is also a major shareholder in MicroStrategy Inc., a U.S. firm best known for its huge holding in Bitcoin. Due to the more than US3.5 billion worth in Bitcoin, MicroStrategy has become a pseudo Bitcoin investment vehicle for many investors.
BlackRock’s “dabbling” in Bitcoin comes after BNY Mellon announced their launch of digital asset custody to cater to growing clients’ demands for the digital assets space.
Just early this month, Tesla announced a US$1.5 billion in Bitcoin purchase, opening the floodgate for many other corporations to join the “Bitcoin for Corporates” club.
