BlackRock CEO Larry Fink calls bitcoin an 'index of money laundering'
- "Bitcoin just shows you how much demand for money laundering there is in the world," the head of the largest asset management firm in the world said Friday.
- Bitcoin prices hit a record high earlier on Friday.
- Fink's comments came right after JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon called people who own the cryptocurrency "stupid."
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink took a shot at cryptocurrency bitcoin on Friday, calling it an "index of money laundering."
"Bitcoin just shows you how much demand for money laundering there is in the world," Fink, the head of the largest asset management firm in the world, said at an Institute of International Finance meeting. "That's all it is."
The cryptocurrency has been on a tear lately. It hit a record high earlier on Friday, breaking above $5,800. Bitcoin is also up 470 percent this year.
Some of the most well-known figures on Wall Street have also started to embrace bitcoin. Fundstrat's Tom Lee said he sees bitcoin surging to $6,000 next year and value investor Bill Miller reportedly owns bitcoin.
Fink's comments came right after JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon called people who own the cryptocurrency "stupid." Dimon's comments came a day after he said during a post-earnings conference call that he's "not going to talk about bitcoin anymore."
Last month, Dimon called bitcoin a "fraud," adding "it's worse than tulip bulbs. It won't end well."