At the World Economic Forum 2023 in Davos, BlackRock's COO Rob Goldstein and Circle's CEO Jeremy Allaire discussed the growing partnership between their companies and the potential of digital cash to improve efficiency in institutional financial flows. Goldstein, who has been with BlackRock for 29 years, highlighted the firm's strategic shift towards digital assets, prompted by recent global events such as sanctions against Russia. This shift includes an equity investment in Circle and the creation of the Circle Reserve Fund to manage part of the USDC reserves. Allaire emphasized Circle’s growth and the advantages of using their digital currency, USD Coin (USDC), for eliminating inefficiencies through the tokenization of securities. The discussion underscored BlackRock's and Circle's commitment to advancing digital financial solutions and addressing industry inefficiencies.