In October 2017, Blackstone's CEO Larry Fink called Bitcoin "an index of money laundering," according to CNBC. Then in an interview on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street” in July 2024 he stated: "I believe Bitcoin is legitimate."
What’s shocking isn’t that Fink changed his mind, but that he used the word "frightened" four times to describe why anyone would invest in Bitcoin.
On November 19th, options on BlackRock's iShare Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) began trading on NASDAQ. According to Yahoo Finance, its ETF "soared to $1.9B on debut, fueling Bitcoin's surge to new all-time highs.”
As you know I was a skeptic. I was a proud skeptic. And I studied it, learned about it, and I came away saying, ok, you know, my opinion five years ago was wrong, here’s my opinions today. This is what I believe in today. I believe in the opportunity today. I believe Bitcoin is legitimate.”
“I’m not trying to say there’s not misuses like everything else, but it is a legitimate financial instrument that allows you to have maybe uncorrelated, non-correlated types of returns. I believe it is an instrument that you invest in when you’re more frightened though. It is an instrument when you believe that countries are debasing their currency, debasing their currency by excess deficits. And some countries are. I believe we have countries where you’re frightened of your everyday existence and it’ll give you an opportunity to invest in something that is outside your country’s control, then you can have more financial control. I do believe there’s a real need for everyone to look at it as one alternative. I would say the optimism that I have in the world, if you want to hedge hope, Bitcoin is not an instrument for hope, unless you’re hopeful you’re going to make a lot of money on it. I look at it as a vehicle in which you’re expressing your financial acumen in something when you’re more frightened of the world, more frightened of your existence.”
—LARRY FINK, CEO, Blackstone, CNBC's "Squawk on the Street”
Sources:
Larry Fink, CNBC:, October 2017:
Larry Fink, ”Squawk on the Street,” July 2024:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4ciiDyUvUo&t=48s
BlackRock’s iShare Bitcoin Trust ETF trades on NASDAQ
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/blackrocks-bitcoin-etf-options-soar-081414963.html