BlackRock reveals $38T U.S. debt may boost gold’s biggest rival

BlackRock reveals $38T U.S. debt may boost gold’s biggest rival

Anand Sinha

Wed, December 3, 2025 at 7:15 PM EST

3 min read

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The world's largest asset manager, BlackRock (NYSE: BLK), thinks that the rising national debt of the U.S. could be good for gold's biggest rival.

The U.S. national debt has surpassed $38 trillion as the gap between government spending and revenues increasingly widens in the world’s largest economy.

The U.S. federal government currently has $38.42 trillion in debt and the figure is expected to only increase.

But a new BlackRock report hints the rising federal debt will boost the adoption of gold's biggest rival, Bitcoin (BTC), on Wall Street.

Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, is frequently referred to as 'gold's biggest rival' because it aims to offer to the traders the same hedge asset value as gold during periods of inflation.

Several major Wall Street names, including BlackRock’s Larry Fink, Paul Tudor Jones and Goldman Sachs, have repeatedly described Bitcoin as “digital gold.”

Fidelity, JPMorgan and ARK Invest say BTC now directly competes with gold as a store-of-value asset. Even hedge-fund legends like Ray Dalio and Stan Druckenmiller argue younger investors now view Bitcoin the way previous generations viewed gold.

In fact, Bitcoin maximalists call Bitcoin the "digital gold" because investors see both these assets as stores of value that protect wealth when the purchasing power of fiat currencies like the U.S. dollar declines.

Not only BlackRock, but Wall Street giants like the Bank of America and The Vanguard Group have also begun to embrace Bitcoin.

BlackRock bullish on crypto adoption

Recently, BlackRock released the 2026 Global Outlook report which presents a bullish outlook on crypto adoption.

As the market becomes fragile and traditional hedges fail in the face of soaring national debt, it could lead to institutional investors pivoting towards cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin as alternative investments.

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BlackRock hails stablecoin growth

In the latest report, BlackRock said the growth of stablecoins has implications for core aspects of the financial system.

The integration of stablecoins into mainstream payment systems, such as cross-border payments and local currency alternatives, are game changers, it added.

BlackRock's global head of market development, Samara Cohen, said,

"Stablecoins are no longer niche — they’re becoming the bridge between traditional finance and digital liquidity.”

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These developments mark a modest but meaningful step toward a tokenized financial system that is evolving rapidly, the report added.

BlackRock CEO hails growing tokenization trend

CEO Larry Fink recently admitted that though the asset manager failed to recognize the potential of tokenization amid the crypto buzz, BlackRock has now seen how the process can greatly expand the investment suite beyond the now prevalent publicly listed stocks and bonds.

Tokenization can offer the twin benefits of instantaneous settlements and fractional offerings, Fink and COO Rob Goldstein said.

"If history is any guide, tokenisation today is roughly where the internet was in 1996—when Amazon had sold just $16m-worth of books, and three of the rest of today’s “Magnificent Seven” tech giants hadn’t even been founded."

Tokenization isn't replacing the existing financial system; instead, the two systems are learning to interoperate, they said.

This story was originally published by TheStreet on Dec 3, 2025, where it first appeared in the MARKETS section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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