BlackRock chief executive Larry Fink is supporting the creation of spot Ethereum () exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
In a new interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box, Fink that after spot Bitcoin () ETFs were just approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), it would be worthwhile for the agency to also approve spot ETH ETFs.
Fink also believes that tokenization in the financial space could result in a crackdown on corruption, such as money laundering.
“I see value in having an Ethereum ETF. As I said, these are just stepping stones towards tokenization. And I really do believe this is where we’re going to be going. We have the technology to tokenize today. Think about this, if you had a tokenized security and you have a tokenized identity, you Andrew [Sorkin], the moment you buy or sell an instrument, it’s known, it’s on a general LEDGER that is all created together. You want to talk about issues around money laundering and all that, this eliminates all corruption by having a tokenized system.”
Fink adds that he believes Bitcoin is a safe store of value similar to how gold was historically during times of uncertainty.
“I’m a believer in [Bitcoin] because I do believe it is an alternative source for wealth holding. I don’t believe it’s ever going to be a currency. I believe it’s an asset class. I think we’re going to create digital currencies. We’re going to use the technology for it. We’re going to use the blockchain…
I believe [Bitcoin] goes up if the world is more frightened, if people are fearful of geopolitical risk, if they’re fearful of their own risk. It’s no different than what gold represented over thousands of years. It is an asset class that protects you. And unlike gold, where we manufacture new gold, we’re almost at the ceiling of the amount of Bitcoin that will be created.”
