BlackRock CEO Larry Fink Discusses a New Asset Class
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink told the Milken Institute that surging compute demand could spawn an entirely new asset class. Traders may one day buy and sell futures contracts on raw computing power, he said. Speaking at the conference in Beverly Hills, Fink described compute as scarce enough to need its own derivatives market. He placed it alongside energy and agricultural commodities, which firms already hedge through structured futures. Why Compute Could Become a New Asset Class Fink said the country does not yet have the chips, memory, or power capacity needed for projected AI workloads. He compared raw compute to fuel and grain, commodities that markets already price through forward contracts. The framing nudged the audience toward viewing compute as a tradable resource. Brookfield CEO Bruce Flatt joined Fink onstage for the discussion. “A new asset class will be buying futures of compute.” The BlackRock chairman framed compute as the next major commodity for financial markets, not just a cloud service. Institutions financing AI build-outs could hedge capacity costs the way airlines hedge fuel today. That hedge would price the megawatts and chips behind every model query. Fink suggested the contracts would attract long-duration capital looking for tangible exposure. Power, Chips, and Capital All Run Short Fink also rejected