One of the world’s largest asset managers believes that the cryptocurrency market offers opportunities, but further research is required before it can be widely accepted. While talking to Bloomberg TV, Larry Fink, the CEO of BlackRock, says that he is a big believer in cryptocurrency. He explains that the current crypto market is primarily focused on speculation. Speculation, as a basis for a market, is scary for investors.
In the interview, Fink stated:
"Related to cryptocurrencies, I'm a big believer in the potential of what a cryptocurrency can do. You see huge opportunities, but what we're talking about today, it's much more of a speculative platform, people are speculating on it."
Fink further explains that his firm has not seen much interest from investors regarding cryptocurrency. This comes in sharp contrast to other firms, such as Goldman Sachs, who are considering building new trading services around cryptocurrencies. Fink says, “we're being asked that question but it's more of a venture capital type of interchange, but we're not hearing clients say, 'we want to use this as an asset class'.”
The wall street investment bank, Goldman Sachs, has been putting together a team of traders dedicated to cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin. The Wall Street Journal reported that Goldman Sachs is in the early stages of the process, and there is a chance that the firm might just pass on the cryptocurrency market. Fink clarifies that his greatest worry regarding cryptocurrency is its use in illegal money laundering. This has caused great concerns for countries all over the world as well.
He further states in the Bloomberg interview:
“As I said, it's much more of a speculative platform for Asia, and it's heavily used for money laundering."