Larry Fink is an American businessman who serves as the CEO of BlackRock, one of the world’s largest asset management firms. He has also been a vocal advocate for cryptocurrency and blockchain technology investments.
Fink was born in 1950 in New York City and attended UCLA before joining investment banking firm First Boston Corporation. After nearly two decades at First Boston, he joined BlackRock when it spun off from First Boston in 1988. Under his leadership, BlackRock grew to become one of the world’s leading asset management firms with more than $7 trillion in assets under management as of 2020.
In recent years, Larry Fink has become increasingly bullish on cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies. In 2018, he told Bloomberg that “in the next five to 10 years there will be one or multiple legitimate trusted digital currencies off of which you can build products.” Since then, Blackrock has invested heavily into various crypto-related projects including Bakkt (a global platform for buying and selling digital assets) and ethereum exchange Grayscale Investments (which manages over US$2 billion worth of assets).
In addition to investing in these companies himself, Larry Fink is also an outspoken proponent for increased regulation within the crypto industry. In 2019 he said “The level playing field we have today [with fiat currencies] doesn’t exist yet with cryptocurrencies… We need rules-based solutions around cryptocurrency before institutional investors will engage.” His statements have helped bring attention to issues related to consumer protection within the space as well as increasing transparency among exchanges and other entities dealing with digital assets.
