Larry Fink is a finance genius who runs the largest asset management company in the world, handling a mind-blowing $11.5 trillion. That’s more money than the GDPs of most countries. For years, Larry wasn’t interested in Bitcoin, and he wasn’t quiet about it. Back in 2018, he called it “an index of money laundering” and brushed it off as a passing fad. Fast forward to 2024, and now he’s not just singing a different tune — he’s leading the orchestra. But his sudden love affair with Bitcoin should terrify anyone who cares about what this cryptocurrency was originally meant to be. Larry didn’t just wake up one day and decide to like Bitcoin. His pivot is calculated, and it’s tied to BlackRock’s growing dominance in financial markets. The company’s Bitcoin ETF has already raked in over $51 billion. To put that into perspective, this ETF has outperformed every other investment product on the planet. It’s pretty crazy that it’s not talked about more. Is Larry a true believer? Larry wasn’t alone in doubting Bitcoin back in the day. Institutional finance, for the most part, dismissed it as a niche toy for tech bros and anarchists. But times changed, and he adjusted. During a Q3 earnings call in October, he declared Bitcoin “an asset class in itself.” That’s huge. Let’s not get carried away now. The whole point of Bitcoin is decentralization. It wasn’t designed to be managed, influenced, or controlled by anyone, let alone the CEO of the world’s most powerful company. Yet, here we are. A simple Google search of BlackRock’s history shows you that Larry and his board love to be in control. The odds of them not trying to centralize Bitcoin as their stash grows bigger and bigger are slim to none. So far, Larry hasn’t shown any signs of being a crypto purist, unlike MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor . A double-edged sword Let’s talk numbers because Larry loves numbers. Bitcoin is volatile. Always has been. Over the past decade, its annualized volatility has been 49%. Compare that to gold’s 14%, and you see why institutional investors have been wary. On December 10, Bitcoin’s price fluctuated between $97,499 and $98,140. That’s narrow by crypto standards but still far more dramatic than gold’s $2,685 to $2,696 range. Larry doesn’t see this as a problem. He sees it as an opportunity. Volatility is why Bitcoin has the potential for insane gains. It’s also why it’s risky. Larry argues that Bitcoin’s growth isn’t tied to regulation but to liquidity and transparency. “I don’t believe it’s a function of more or less regulation,” he said. That’s classic Larry—focused on what makes markets move, not on what governments think about them. But let’s not pretend this is risk-free. BlackRock’s involvement could stabilize Bitcoin’s price in the short term but at the cost of decentralization. Here’s the thing: if BlackRock ends up holding a million Bitcoins and prices hit let’s say $250,000 per coin, the company will rake in $2.5 billion annually in fees. Every single year forever. That’s the kind of power that should make every crypto enthusiast shudder. BlackRock’s long game: Beyond Bitcoin Bitcoin isn’t the only game in town for Larry. BlackRock is expanding aggressively into private markets. Why? Because that’s where the big money is. Private equity, private credit, real estate, and infrastructure investments generate higher fees than traditional stock and bond offerings. And Larry wants a piece of that pie. So far this year, BlackRock has made two massive acquisitions to boost its private market capabilities. In June, it bought Preqin, a private assets data provider, for $3.2 billion. Then in October, it closed a $12.5 billion deal to acquire Global Infrastructure Partners. That added 35% to BlackRock’s alternative asset tally, pushing it to $450 billion. While that’s still behind Blackstone’s $1.1 trillion, it puts BlackRock ahead of Apollo and KKR. Private markets now account for just 3% of BlackRock’s total assets but contribute 11% of its revenue. That’s why Larry is so focused on this area. Analysts think BlackRock might soon acquire HPS Investment Partners, a private credit manager with $100 billion in assets. If that happens, BlackRock will become one of the largest private-credit players on Wall Street. As if the company needed any more power. Bitcoin’s original promise was freedom from control. No banks. No CEOs. No creepy board members. No gatekeepers. But Larry, though a visionary, threatens that vision.
