The CEO of Blackrock, the world’s largest asset manager, says that most crypto companies will not be around following the collapse of crypto exchange FTX. However, the executive is still optimistic about blockchain technology.
Blackrock’s CEO on FTX’s Collapse and Future of Crypto
Larry Fink, the CEO of Blackrock Inc. (NYSE: BLK), the world’s largest asset management firm, talked about cryptocurrency and the collapsed exchange FTX during an interview at the New York Times Dealbook Summit last week.
Blackrock had $7.96 trillion in assets under management (AUM) as of the third quarter. The asset management firm invested $24 million in Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF)’s FTX through a billionaire fund it manages, the CEO explained.
Regarding the FTX meltdown, Fink said: “We’re going to have to wait to see how this all plays out … I mean, right now we can make all the judgment calls and it looks like there were misbehaviors of major consequences.” The Blackrock chief executive believes that most crypto companies we see today will not be around, stating:
I actually believe most of the companies are not going to be around.
Despite the problems surrounding FTX, Fink said blockchain technology is relevant for the future. Emphasizing that the technology behind crypto “will be very important,” the Blackrock boss opined:
I believe the next generation for markets and next generation for securities will be tokenization of securities.
Crypto exchange FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Nov. 11 and Bankman-Fried stepped down as the CEO. The company owes an estimated one million creditors billions of dollars. Other global asset managers that invested in FTX included the Singapore government’s Temasek Holdings, Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital, and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.
The FTX meltdown has many people calling for tighter crypto oversight. Last week, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said crypto doesn’t have adequate regulation. “It’s a Lehman moment within crypto, and crypto is big enough that we’ve had substantial harm with investors,” she said.
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