DAW24: BlackRock Exec Says Crypto Serves as Valuable Gateway for Institutions
Tanzeel Akhtar has been covering the cryptocurrency and blockchain sector since 2015. She has written for the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, CoinDesk and Bitcoin Magazine.
At an intimate conference held in the City of London today, attended by leading financiers, Robert Mitchnick, head of digital assets at BlackRock, reflected on the asset manager’s foray into the world of crypto and tokenization.
Moderated by Michael Barrell, founder and CEO of Juliet Media and Digital Assets Week, the discussion provided insights into BlackRock’s evolving perspective on digital assets and the growing convergence between crypto and tokenization.
Mitchnick emphasized the shift from enterprise blockchain to crypto assets, explaining that digital assets are playing a new role with crypto acting as a “valuable gateway” for institutional investors.
“Crypto actually is starting to serve this function as a valuable gateway for institutions to build in this space with this technology and dealing with digital asset custody. I think it’s going to prove to be an important catalyst for tokenization,” he said.
This marks a significant evolution in how financial institutions view the digital asset space, moving beyond initial skepticism towards broader adoption.
One of the key themes Mitchnick explored was the complementary nature of crypto and tokenization, addressing the often-posed dichotomy between the two.
He reflected on how, in the early days of blockchain, the narrative was “Blockchain not Bitcoin,” with a similar mindset now emerging around tokenization versus crypto.
However, Mitchnick noted that these elements are not mutually exclusive but, in fact, complementary. “I think these things are quite complementary,” he said, arguing that crypto
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