BlackRock’s Fink notes ‘pent-up interest’ after fake bitcoin ETF news

BlackRock’s CEO observed that even though the reports were incorrect, the market’s reaction signaled significant underlying demand for crypto

article-image

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink | WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM/swiss-image.ch/Photo Moritz Hager, modified by Blockworks (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

share

In a Monday interview with Fox Business, Larry Fink, CEO of the world’s largest asset manager, addressed the market’s swift reaction to inaccurate reports that BlackRock’s iShares spot Bitcoin ETF had secured approval from the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Amid the market tumult, bitcoin experienced a surge across multiple trading platforms. On the Binance bitcoin/tether market — responsible for 8% of bitcoin’s 24-hour trading volume — bitcoin peaked at $30,000, marking a 7% increase in approximately 30 minutes.

This $2,000 surge in the asset’s price caused widespread market volatility and pushed hourly liquidations past the $100 million mark, as Blockworks previously reported. Bitcoin (BTC) has since retracted.

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink noted that despite the inaccuracy of the reports, the market’s response is indicative of the high level of latent demand for crypto products.

“I think it’s just an example of the pent-up interest in crypto, and we’re hearing from clients around the world about the need for crypto,” Fink said. “Some of this rally is way beyond the rumor, I think the rally today is about a flight to quality with all the…issues around the Israeli war now [and] global terrorism,” Fink said.

Fink also observed a broader trend of investors seeking safer assets in uncertain times. 

Read more: Tokenized short-term US Treasury ETF coming to Base

“There’s more people running into a flight to quality whether that is Treasurys, gold or crypto, depending on how you think about it,” he said “I believe crypto will play that type of role as a flight to quality.”


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research Report Templates (2).png

Research

We’re bullish on the PUMP token. We believe Pump.fun's brand strength, existing integrations, product roadmap, and strategic levers justify PUMP's TGE valuation, and expect the token to re-rate meaningfully higher in the months ahead.

article-image

The non-profit’s “Project Open” seeks to let stocks trade directly on Solana

article-image

The acquisition is Pump.fun’s first, and comes just days before its planned ICO

article-image

As Trump’s tariff war reignites, everyone is assuming the dollar will continue its path lower. But the journey might be bumpy

article-image

A valuation model for “blockchain GDP”

article-image

The mini app combines vibe-coding with a hypercasual game feed and is coming to the new Coinbase Wallet

article-image

An improbable tale of the world’s 40th graphics-chip startup