Bitcoin bulls had a fresh boost on Monday after Larry Fink, the CEO of the world’s largest asset manager BlackRock, recognized his role as a previous BTC skeptic and now a staunch believer of the flagship cryptocurrency.

“As you know, I was a skeptic. I was a proud skeptic,” Fink said. “And I studied it, learned about it, and I came away saying ‘Ok, my opinion of five years was wrong, and here’s my opinion today.’”

Fink’s appearance came as BlackRock’s assets under management (AUM) climbed to $10.6 trillion in the second quarter, thanks to its iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) exchange-traded fund (ETF).

Larry Fink Supports Bitcoin In Portfolios

One of crypto’s erstwhile naysayers is helping to take Bitcoin mainstream. BlackRock’s Larry Fink, who called BTC “an index of money laundering” back in 2017, has since had a change of heart regarding cryptocurrencies over the years.

In the July 15 interview with CNBC’s Squawk On The Street, Fink asserted his belief that Bitcoin is an asset that everyone should consider holding as part of their portfolio.

The BlackRock chief said he’s “not trying to say there aren’t misuses, like everything else,” but he believes Bitcoin is a “legitimate financial instrument” that should be part of every investor’s portfolio as it allows for uncorrelated returns and provides financial control.

Fink then described Bitcoin as an instrument to invest in during times of heightened fear, adding that if people think nations are debasing their fiat currency through excessive deficits, the premier cryptocurrency provides a chance to invest in something beyond the control of any single country, thus offering more financial control.

Bitcoin Is Digital Gold

Fink further noted that he views Bitcoin as “digital gold” and even mentioned that the crypto has an “industrial use” that most people are missing.

“Bitcoin is not an instrument for hope unless you’re hopeful you’re gonna make a lot of money on it,” Fink continued. “But I look at it as a vehicle in which you’re expressing your financial acumen, in something that you’re more frightened of your existence.”

BlackRock currently helms the world’s largest spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in terms of assets under management.

Commenting on the interview, Bloomberg’s senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas argued that it is “hard to overstate how big a deal it is for Larry Fink, who runs $10.6T, to keep giving these full-throated endorsements of bitcoin as a legit asset class for everyday portfolios.”

“Buy in from BlackRock — as well as other legacy firms like Fidelity – gives boomer advisors comfort and cover to make the allocation,” he postulated on X. “That’s why betting against, or minimizing the clear-to-anyone-with-eyes-and-a-brain early success of, these ETFs has been and will be dumb IMO.”

Bitcoin Price Responds

Bitcoin’s price has responded swiftly to Fink’s remarks and several other developments perceived as bullish, including Donald Trump’s reelection odds skyrocketing and the German government selling the last of its Bitcoin, concluding the significant selling pressure caused by dumping 50,000 BTC onto the market.

The industry’s largest crypto has notably reversed weeks of bearish price movement and suppression below the $60K threshold. BTC was changing hands at $64,830 as of press time, marking a 5.9% growth over the last 24 hours, CoinGecko data shows.