BlackRock and Blockchain: Vladimir Okhotnikov about digitization

Until a few years ago, the head of BlackRock Larry Fink was extremely negative about cryptocurrencies. Today, however, his position has changed dramatically, and BlackRock has become a major player and lobbyist in the crypto business. At least that’s the impression that outsiders can get.

Indeed, in the second half of the past year, 2023, an investment giant entered the race for Bitcoin-ETF. At this point, experts have lost the last doubt that Bitcoin-ETF will be approved - BlackRock has a remarkable history of approved ETF, and if it has applied for approval, then it is confident of success.

The transformation of the position of the world’s largest investment fund may seem illogical - BlackRock is the least similar to the rebel with a portrait of Che Guevara in the office. 

What’s going on here? 

The crypto business has developed a specific reputation over the past decade, poorly compatible with the somewhat conservative world of "traditional" investments. And if guys like BkackRock decide to invest in a Bitcoin project, then there’s been some changes. 

And that’s true. The system that was indifferently watching the development of cryptocurrencies finally decided to intervene. The solution is clear: the crypto is inherently a threat to the fiat. In order to destroy it, the crypt must be brought under control. And here BlackRock and other system players are in place.

The fact that the crypto business literally before our eyes becomes different, changes its essence.

The SEC persists in fighting cryptocurrency, viewing it as an alien, semi-criminal entity. However, this enthusiasm is not shared by the state as the operator of the existing economic system. And Travis Hill, the Deputy Chairman of the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, is making unusually strong criticisms of the SEC. 

The criticism concerns attempts to regulate the SEC work of banks with cryptocurrencies. Hill noted that the commission’s policy did not separate cryptocurrencies from tokenization. The two concepts are connected by a blockchain, but the meaning is completely different. 

Tokenization involves using blockchains to "transfer" physical objects into digital space. In fact, according to the spirit of Satoshi Nakamoto’s work, cryptocurrency (in his case Bitcoin) is a by-product of the blockchain, and the foundation is a highly secure registry that keeps all records forever. Transfer to the blockchain is ideal for all kinds of archives, certificates, and other documents. In fact, this is tokenization, and fighting it means technology lag.

Currently, we can see two trends that we will see in the near future. This is tokenization and the conversion of cryptocurrencies to regulated traditional markets. There will be no revolution. But evolution will be, and that is good.

#VladimirOkhotnikov