Author: Weilin, PANews
On March 31, Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, one of the world's largest asset management companies, released a 27-page annual letter to investors. In this letter, Fink unusually warned that if the United States cannot control its continuously expanding debt and fiscal deficit, the US dollar's status as a "global reserve currency" that has been maintained for decades may ultimately give way to emerging digital assets like Bitcoin.
Bitcoin May Weaken the US Dollar's Reserve Currency Status
On page 20 of the report, Fink raised a thought-provoking question: "Will Bitcoin weaken the dollar's reserve currency status?"
He stated that for decades, the United States has benefited from the dollar's status as a global reserve currency. However, this status is not permanently guaranteed. Since the "National Debt Clock" began timing in 1989, US national debt has grown three times faster than GDP. This year, interest expenditure alone will exceed $952 billion, surpassing defense spending. By 2030, mandatory government spending and debt service will consume all federal revenue, creating a long-term deficit.
While warning about traditional financial risks, Fink also explicitly stated that he is not against the development of digital assets. Fink wrote: It needs to be said that I am obviously not against digital assets. But two things can be true simultaneously: decentralized finance is an extraordinary innovation. It makes markets faster, lower-cost, and more transparent. However, this innovation could also potentially undermine America's economic advantages—if investors begin to believe Bitcoin is safer than the US dollar.
When reviewing performance, Fink noted that BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF in the United States became the largest exchange-traded product launch in history, with assets under management exceeding $50 billion in less than a year. IBIT is the third most asset-attractive product in the entire ETF industry, second only to the S&P 500 index fund. Over half of the demand comes from retail investors, with three-quarters from investors who had never previously held iShares products. This year, BlackRock has expanded its Bitcoin product to exchange-traded products (ETP) in Canada and Europe.
[The rest of the translation follows the same professional and accurate approach]
Overall, Larry Fink's annual letter to investors warns of the risks to the global reserve status of the US dollar and serves as a prediction about the financial future. From tokenizing the reconstruction of capital markets to breaking through the bottlenecks of the required digital identity system, Fink reveals the irrationalities of the existing system and points out the potential new directions that technological and institutional innovations may bring.
