In a post shared Thursday via X, former Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein acknowledged a potential competitive dynamic between Bitcoin and the US dollar in the context of global reserve currencies. Blankfein, who previously held skeptical views on digital assets, acknowledged that Bitcoin’s growth could put it in direct competition with long-standing US monetary dominance.
Referring to US President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to create a strategic reserve of Bitcoin, Blankfein books: Trump has correctly spoken of the importance of defending the dollar’s exclusivity as the global reserve currency. It helps American trade, finances our deficits, and pushes American policy choices toward our adversaries and enemies. So why does the new official insist on promoting BITC?
Feedback from the Bitcoin community
Pierre Rochard, vice president of research at publicly traded mining company Riot Platforms (NASDAQ: RIOT), publicly stated male Via
John Haar, who leads Swan’s private client services and previously worked as a Wall Street portfolio manager and institutional investor for 13 years, offered a counter view to Blankfein via X: “Maybe they’re not mutually exclusive? USD/Treasuries will probably continue In its role as the dominant global reserve currency/asset… Even as Bitcoin continues to grow in market cap and adoption also relevant, why would any government hold gold reserves?
Likewise, Matthew Baines, a national security fellow at the Bitcoin Policy Institute, framed Bitcoin’s expansion as aligning with broader US strategic interests: “Bitcoin is directly aligned with US geoeconomic interests to contain China’s digital authoritarianism, support the treasury and dollar system, and strengthen our economy.” Values around the world.”
David Marcus, CEO and co-founder of Lightspark and previously a key figure in Meta’s digital asset initiatives, downplayed the idea that BTC threatens the sovereignty of the dollar: “Bitcoin is not a threat to the sovereignty of the dollar. It will not compete as a unit of account for daily payments. It is a digital version of gold.” It is 100 times more profitable and will be used as a neutral digital settlement asset between systems and currencies that will make Bitcoin the dollar stronger.”
Eric Weiss, CEO of Bitcoin Investment Group, echoed Marcus’ sentiment, saying: “Bitcoin will help support the US dollar and spread it globally. Really synergistic.”
Blankfein’s current stance fits with his previous position on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. In 2021, he publicly questioned Bitcoin’s viability as a store of value and suggested regulators were deeply concerned about its rise. “I may be a skeptic, but I’m also practical about it,” he commented at the time. “And guess what? I sure would love to have an oar in those waters.”
By January 2022, Blankfein’s position began to evolve. In an appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” he emphasized the increasing maturity of the Bitcoin ecosystem, noting: “Look, my view on it is evolving. I can’t predict the future, but I think it’s a big thing to be able to predict the present, like: “What’s going on?” And I look at cryptocurrencies, and I see this happening. Blankfein explained that by “happening” he was referring to the overall market maturity.
At press time, Bitcoin was trading at $97,793.
Featured image created with DALL.E, a chart from TradingView.com
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