BlackRock CEO Larry Fink Says Libra Is Not A Cryptocurrency, Wants Technology To Interchange Currencies

BlackRock is the largest money-management firm in the world with more than $6.5 trillion in assets under management and Larry Fink is their CEO with over a billion dollars of net worth. He appeared on CNBC recently:

Fink said many of his clients and hedge funds are taking risk off the table. However, he believes such a move is a mistake, and he advised investors to stay invested in stocks. He thinks that people are under invested in equities.

Fink indicated that there is a huge need to democratize the exchange of foreign currencies in cross-border transactions and to bring down the fees of the interchange. He showed that there is a huge problem when it comes to making cross border payments, claiming that people who are making cross border payments are paying a huge amount in fees to organizations charging from 5-10% on each transaction.

He said:

“I actually believe that the idea about libra — I don’t think we need to create a new currency, but the technology to instantaneously calibrate all the currencies. That should be done. You don’t need a libra. you have computers that can monetize and calibrate euro to dollar instantaneously for a couple of basis points.”

Fink was openly against bitcoin for a long time now. Calling out the whole asset class as illegal, he has cited three main concerns to back up his claim. The infamous unpredictable price swings, the mostly anonymous nature of the market and the unregulated playing field make him feel he has a case.