An assessment from BlackRock has said growing concerns about the U.S. fiscal deficit and debt burden are underpinning demand for bitcoin.

CoinPost, a blockchain media outlet, reported on Aug. 27 that Robbie Mitchnick (로비 미치닉), head of BlackRock’s digital assets business, said in a CNBC interview that the U.S. fiscal situation is lifting investment demand for alternative stores of value such as bitcoin and gold.

Mitchnick pointed to U.S. debt and the fiscal deficit as factors of market concern. He said assets such as bitcoin and gold tend to benefit each time such fiscal worries come back into focus. He said investors worried about a decline in the purchasing power of dollar assets show a flow of moving into bitcoin and gold.

This awareness is not limited to inside BlackRock. Stanley Druckenmiller (스탠리 드러켄밀러) and Ray Dalio (레이 달리오) have also warned that the U.S. fiscal condition could become a structural risk for markets. The logic is that the more anxiety grows over U.S. fiscal soundness, the more interest could rise in stores of value outside traditional assets.

Mitchnick also mentioned the CLARITY bill, a crypto market structure bill pending in the U.S. Congress. He assessed that the bill is important for the industry as a whole, but is less important for bitcoin as a single asset. That has been read as separating efforts to establish a regulatory framework for crypto from the investment case for bitcoin.

Mitchnick offered a separate interpretation of bitcoin’s recent rebound. He said the latest recovery resembles a pattern repeated whenever investor sentiment in other assets had weakened. He also mentioned that bitcoin has shown different long-term risk and return characteristics compared with other assets such as equities.

The comments do not mean BlackRock is negative about the CLARITY bill itself. Samara Cohen (사마라 코언), BlackRock’s global head of market development, said in July the bill was “an important step toward a regulatory framework that puts investors first.” While acknowledging the need for institutional improvements, the latest comments in effect re-emphasised that macro factors supporting investment demand for bitcoin remain regardless of whether the bill passes.

Market attention is expected to gather along two tracks. One is whether the U.S. fiscal deficit and debt problem will continue to spur demand for bitcoin. The other is whether bitcoin’s investment appeal can be maintained independently even if the CLARITY bill is delayed. BlackRock’s latest comments showed that, at least from an institutional investment perspective, a view remains valid that bitcoin should be seen not only through regulatory issues but also as an asset to respond to U.S. fiscal risks.