Bitcoin is Cross-Border and Anonymous
Canadian holding company, Woodbridge Company Limited, owns Thomson Reuters. The agency held its annual conference, Reuters Global Investment 2018 Outlook Summit in New York City. Among the esteemed legacy heavies was Blackrock Inc’s Chief Executive, Larry Fink.
On 13 November 2017, Mr. Fink’s tone was somewhat irked at the financial press’ preoccupation with bitcoin. Attention is due to its historic growth in price and valuation, the spin-off markets it created, and the subsequent innovation sweeping the corporate world.
Undaunted by it all, he seemed to dismiss the entire affair, noting, “The reason why it does so well is it is anonymous. It’s anonymous, and it’s cross-border,” he told the conference.
Blackrock is a bank readers have might not have heard of, but the reader’s banker surely has. It manages near 6 trillion USD in assets, and operates what’s known as a shadow bank, a bank to banks, operating just outside traditional depository banking.
“100 Percent Equities Is the Right Investment Strategy”
“If you legitimize [bitcoin],” he continued, “you know who your counterparties are…the question is how many people will use it if you have to acknowledge you are a buyer or a seller.” As he has been quoted before, Mr. Fink publicly worried the cryptocurrency is little more than a “very speculative instrument. More importantly, it is an instrument that people use for money laundering.”
Instead, he wanted to steer the conversation to his company’s comfort zone, stressing how someone younger looking to beat inflation should plow money into bonds and stocks. “100 percent equities is the right investment strategy,” he urged.