Larry Fink from BlackRock believes that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine might accelerate adoption of digital currencies at central banks.

According to the CEO and manager of the $10 trillion-asset cash, it was “less talked about” in relation to the war. It began one month ago. annual letter to shareholders Thursday.

“The war will force countries to reevaluate their currency dependence,” he stated. “It was not unusual for governments to want to take a greater role in digital currency regulation and have a say in how they are operated.

Fink cited the U.S. Federal Reserve as an example, which recently published a white paper examining the pros and cons of a potential U.S. central bank digital currency.

Fink said that a global digital payment system can be designed to improve the settlement of international transactions and reduce the chance of money laundering or corruption. Digital currencies are also a great way to reduce cross-border costs, such as when workers from abroad send their earnings home.

The U.S. placed sanctions on Russia, targeting the central bank of its Russian currency. This was when the war started. Crypto became the focus. The Russian ruble and Ukrainian hryvnia saw their transactions on central bitcoin exchanges rise to new heights. Tether and other stablecoins showed that they were able to keep up with the increase. can play a more important role as a safe haven asset – or in circumventing sanctions.

BlackRock clients have shown “increasing interest” in digital currencies, including stablecoins and “the underlying technologies” – also known as blockchain – Fink said. As a result, the company has begun to study emerging assets in order “to understand their potential benefits for us” and have made progress.

Fink did not specify which digital currencies Fink is currently studying. The digital currency group as a whole has split into many emerging asset classes over the last year, including Bitcoin itself and other alternative crypto currencies. Fink didn’t specify any specific digital currencies that they are studying.

While the BlackRock CEO expressed some optimism regarding “digital currencies’ in the past, he was cautious about bitcoin and its volatility. In November he told CNBC’s “Squawk Box”Although he said that he wasn’t a “student of bitcoin and its future direction”, he added, “I believe there is an enormous role for a digital currency.”