Larry Fink
Larry Fink once associated cryptocurrencies with money laundering. CNBC Television | Squawk on the Street CNBC Television YouTube/Screenshot

KEY POINTS

  • Many crypto users were bullish after the rumors first emerged on social media
  • Fink has admitted he was wrong about Bitcoin in the past
  • The suspect in the attempted assassination of Trump briefly appeared in a BlackRock ad in 2022

Speculation has been rife on social media regarding the possibility of BlackRock CEO Larry Fink becoming the Treasury Secretary should Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump win the November elections. However, Trump himself has shut down such rumors.

Fink for Treasury Secretary?

Rumors of Fink possibly being chosen by Trump as his Treasury Secretary emerged earlier this week, with multiple posts on social media spreading like wildfire. Cryptocurrency users weighed in on the rumors, with some saying Bitcoin "is guaranteed to explode" if the speculation turns out to be true. One user said the news may finally propel the world's largest digital asset by market cap to $100,000.

Why is crypto bullish on the rumors?

Investment behemoth BlackRock under Fink's leadership has embraced Bitcoin in recent years. Fink was previously a "proud" skeptic of the world's first decentralized cryptocurrency. He once associated crypto with money laundering, earning the ire of the community.

Earlier this month, he acknowledged he was wrong about the digital coin and revealed he studied all about it. He said he has become "a major believer that there is a role for Bitcoin in portfolios," even calling the asset "digital gold."

BlackRock's spot $BTC exchange-traded fund (ETF), IBIT, is also the most popular Bitcoin ETF in the world. It has led to positive inflows into the ETFs since its launch in January.

Trump is bearish of Fink

On Tuesday, Trump finally addressed the rumors. "I don't know who said it, or where it came from, perhaps the Radical Left, but I never discussed, or thought of, Jamie Dimon or Larry Fink for Secretary of the Treasury," he wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.

He did not explain further regarding his choice or provide a potential candidate for the seat, but it is worth noting that Thomas Matthew Crooks, the suspect in the attempted assassination of the GOP presidential nominee earlier this month, was briefly featured in a BlackRock ad in 2022.

Meanwhile, Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, has been called out multiple times by key crypto figures for his negative views of Bitcoin. He said $BTC is a crypto that "does nothing" and can be compared to a "pet rock."

Trump's Bitcoin views

Despite once saying that Bitcoin appears like a "scam," Trump has since come around, at least based on his recent public talks that discussed the cryptocurrency.

He has championed Bitcoin mining in the U.S. and expressed support for self-custody of the American public's digital assets. He also said "a lot" of the crypto industry will be built in Florida.

He is due to speak at the much-anticipated Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville later this week, and picked J.D. Vance, a $BTC holder, to become his running mate.

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