The U.S. dollar has been the international reserve currency since the end of World War II. Could that be changing? BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, along with several crypto experts, believe there’s a chance it could. Not immediately, but someday. Maybe.
“It is very unlikely in the short term,” said CK Zheng, co-founder and CIO of ZX Squared Capital. “But in the long run, the possibility is increasing.”
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The dollar’s relative stability has made it the currency of choice for international exchange and a generally recognized “safe” place to store wealth for nearly a century. In his annual letter to investors, Fink wrote, “If the U.S. doesn’t get its debt under control, if deficits keep ballooning, America risks losing that position to digital assets like bitcoin.”
“The natural evolution of money could end up being decentralized finance,” said Jonathan Rose, CEO of BlockTrust IRA and Genesis Gold Group. Pointing to some of the advantages, he shared that cryptocurrencies like bitcoin offer “faster, cheaper, more transparent” transactions.
However, challenges arise in terms of the safety, security and accessibility of bitcoin as a primary means of currency. “It would take a while for full integration,” Rose said.
Likewise, there will be a learning curve for people to understand what investing, storing and using crypto entails. “If you’re going to invest in these digital assets, you’ve got to have military-grade encryption… 24/7 safety and security, with insurance,” he said.
“Crypto custodian services with strict regulatory compliance provide a great solution for most of the investors,” Zheng added.
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“In a [theoretical] future world of no dominant fiat currency, bitcoin could become the world reserve currency given the nature of decentralization,” Zheng said. “For that to happen, it requires most of the world powers to embrace it.”
An overnight shift to a new world reserve would create market turmoil. Even a gradual shift could wreak havoc on the U.S. economy. “If the U.S. loses the reserve currency, its political and economic influences around the world would greatly be diminished,” Zheng said.
Rose agreed, emphasizing that the U.S. would need to position itself as a leader in any new world reserve.
On April 10, 2025, President Donald Trump signed the Carey Bill, which eliminates the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Digital Assets Sale and Exchanges Rule. This is an important step since the rule required decentralized finance brokers to submit information reports to the IRS the same way other investment brokers do.
