Larry Fink, the Chief Executive Officer at BlackRock Inc, stated that the Russia-Ukraine war could help bolster the adoption of cryptocurrencies to settle international transactions.
According to Reuters, countries will reassess the dependency on traditional currencies and eventually shift their focus towards cryptos and stablecoins. “A global digital payment system, thoughtfully designed, can enhance the settlement of international transactions while reducing the risk of money laundering and corruption,” he commented on the matter.
He added: “Over the past few weeks, I’ve spoken to countless stakeholders, including our clients and employees, who are all looking to understand what could be done to prevent capital from being deployed to Russia. We believe this is the definition of our fiduciary duty.”
According to the letter from the Chairman and CEO of the $10 trillion asset manager on Thursday, the Russia-Ukraine crisis has put an end to the global forces that have been in force for the past 30 years.
He said that having access to global capital markets is a privilege, not a right, adding that BlackRock suspended the purchase of Russian securities in its active index portfolio following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“While companies’ and consumers’ balance sheets are strong today, giving them more of a cushion to weather these difficulties, a large-scale reorientation of supply chains will inherently be inflationary,” Fink pointed out.
Dependency on Russian Commodities
BlackRock Inc.’s overall client exposure to Russia had declined to less than $1 billion from $8 billion before the Russian invasion of Ukraine triggered Western sanctions and the closure of the Russian stock market earlier this month, according to figures provided by the asset manager. “Energy security has joined the energy transition as a top global priority,” Fink said about energy prices’ surging across the board following the sanctions on Moscow’s government.
