BlackRock, an institutional asset manager that has indirect exposure to Bitcoin (BTC), has recorded a major decline in investor demand for cryptocurrency.
The company’s CEO Larry Fink declared Wednesday on CNBC’s Squawk Box that BlackRock has been seeing less crypto-related queries from investors recently, signaling a massive drop in demand for crypto.
Fink noted that specifically long-term and retirement investors now appear to have less interest in crypto, stating:
“In the past, you’ve asked me about crypto and Bitcoin, again. And in my last two weeks of business travel, not one question has been asked about that. That is just not part of the focus of retirement and long-term investors. We see very little in terms of investor demand.”
Fink’s remarks come amid a continued sideways trading on the cryptocurrency markets, with Bitcoin dropping over 16% over the past 30 days. At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $32,572, slightly up around 0.3% over the past 24 hours. The most-valued cryptocurrency has lost almost half of its price since BTC broke its all-time high in mid-April, surging above $64,000.
BlackRock is known for its friendly stance on Bitcoin as the company obtained indirect exposure to Bitcoin through its ownership stake in business intelligence firm MicroStrategy. The firm made an initial $425 million investment in BTC in 2020 and then continued buying more Bitcoin.
Related: Fidelity to hire more crypto hands amid growing institutional interest
BlackRock CEO previously delivered some positive comments about Bitcoin as well. Last December, Fink claimed that Bitcoin can potentially evolve into a global market despite still being widely untested.
Despite BlackRock CEO’s claims on the alleged decline in Bitcoin demand from long-term investors, the institutional interest in crypto apparently continues growing. Last week, Bank of America, the second-largest bank in the United States, reportedly set up a crypto research team in response to growing institutional interest in digital assets.
