BlackRock CEO Larry Fink mentioned he has modified from being a “proud skeptic” of bitcoin (BTC-USD) to somebody who sees the cryptocurrency as having a spot in individuals’s portfolios.

Fink, who has beforehand expressed an evolving stance on the digital forex, outlined his view throughout an look on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” program on Monday, throughout which bitcoin (BTC-USD) hit a roughly two-week excessive above $63,000.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) “is a legitimate financial instrument that allows you to have uncorrelated, non-correlated type of returns,” Fink mentioned in an interview on the identical day BlackRock (BLK) posted Q2 earnings and income that exceeded Wall Road expectations. It additionally mentioned property below administration rose by $1.2T to $10.6T year-over-year. BlackRock, the world’s largest asset supervisor, runs the iShares Bitcoin Belief ETF (IBIT).

“I’m a major believer that there is a role for bitcoin in porfolios,” he mentioned, including the label “digital gold” to the cryptocurrency valued at $1.26T. “I believe it is an instrument that you invest in when you’re more frightened, though … when you believe that countries are debasing their currency by excess deficits,” he said. Bitcoin (BTC-USD) is also for people seeking an investment vehicle that’s outside a country’s control, he said.

In 2017, Fink called bitcoin (BTC-USD) an “index of cash laundering” at an Institute of Worldwide Finance assembly, however has warmed up to it over time. In 2020, he advised the Council on Overseas Relations it was potential that bitcoin (BTC-USD) may “evolve” into a worldwide market asset.

Fink advised CNBC on Monday that he “was a proud skeptic,” about bitcoin, however after finding out it decided that his opinion about it was “wrong”.

Different bitcoin-backed ETFs embrace (GBTC), (ARKB) and (BITB).