Blackrock CEO Calls Cryptocurrencies a ‘Currency of Fear’ (Free)

Blackrock CEO Larry Fink believes that bitcoin, currently priced around $104,200, could reach $700,000. But this will only happen if people are truly concerned about the stability of their currencies around the world. And while it’s anyone’s guess whether Fink’s logic is sound and people will actually flock to cryptocurrencies in times of crisis (this very popular hypothesis has yet to be proven), the election of Donald Trump certainly has the potential to pump in a lot of money. Instability in the global economic landscape.

Fink made a prediction about the future price of Bitcoin on Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, while discussing the outlook for technologies such as artificial intelligence and cryptocurrencies with Bloomberg. Fink was previously skeptical of cryptocurrencies in late 2010, saying Back in 2017 That “Bitcoin just shows you the extent of the demand for money laundering in the world.” But the billionaire has changed his mind in recent years, and has become a true believer in the promise of cryptocurrencies by 2021.

Not only does Fink seem to believe that cryptocurrencies are now a positive thing, but that this reliance on fear is actually an asset. The billionaire believes that people can make a lot of money from instability or at least concerns about instability around the world.

“When I became a student of cryptocurrencies, it was very clear to me that cryptocurrencies are a currency of fear. And that’s okay,” Fink said during a Wednesday session available on YouTube.

Fink was sharing the stage with Ping Xiao, CEO of artificial intelligence firm G42, who interrupted him “somewhat” about Fink’s claim that fear drives Bitcoin. But Fink just reiterated the idea that it’s “okay” for Bitcoin’s fortunes to be based on fear.

“If you’re afraid of your currency devaluing or you’re afraid of economic or political stability in your country, you can have an international tool called Bitcoin that can overcome those domestic fears. So I’m a big believer in using that as a tool,” Fink said.

Fink went on to say that the price of Bitcoin could reach “$500,000, $600,000, $700,000 per bitcoin” while emphasizing “I’m not promoting that, by the way.”

Fink also said he believes bonds and stocks should be “token.” Why? This part is unclear, because it doesn’t make any sense. But why not? We went through this same bullshit hype cycle a few years ago when everyone jumped on the NFT bandwagon and tokenizing things that don’t need a token might have another comeback.

“The fact that we’re not moving forward with tokenization, all the bonds and stocks are crazy,” Fink said. “We have to move towards those boundaries. Obviously there are winners and losers and all that. But we have to be prepared to tokenize. It would further democratize finance if we tokenized bonds and stocks.”

Fink also discussed the power needs of the massive data centers that continue to be built around the world to meet the needs of artificial intelligence. These data centers require a lot of power, which Fink addressed by talking about nuclear power as a potential solution.

“We need a lot of energy partners to be able to make this global project viable,” Fink said. “We hope this will spark a discussion about the role nuclear energy plays in the energy mix.”

Fink alluded to renewables, saying they would be part of the mix, but said that “unless fusion actually works and we have new sources of energy,” there is a need to work with what is available.

There are some big questions about the future of the US economy currently being debated in Davos and beyond. Inflation, for example, doesn’t seem to be something the ruling class fears anymore, even though the 2024 US presidential election essentially hinges on whether the new president will be able to lower prices.

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon was asked about Trump’s plans for sweeping tariffs against Mexico and Canada, which are expected to be implemented around February 1. Dimon, who is worth $2.7 billion, seemed very hesitant about the prospect.

“If it’s a little bit inflationary, but it’s good for national security, so be it. I mean, get over it,” Dimon told CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin. Wednesday.

This seems like a good slogan for the wealthy in the new Trump era: so be it, get over it. Maybe we’ll hear that a lot more if Trump can blow up the economy. This may not have been what most Trump supporters thought they were standing for when they cast their ballots for the 47th president. But that’s definitely what they’ll get.