  The thermodynamics of black holes is shown to be directly induced by their
near-horizon conformal invariance. This behavior is exhibited using a scalar
field as a probe of the black hole gravitational background, for a general
class of metrics in D spacetime dimensions (with $D \geq 4$). The ensuing
analysis is based on conformal quantum mechanics, within a hierarchical
near-horizon expansion. In particular, the leading conformal behavior provides
the correct quantum statistical properties for the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy,
with the near-horizon physics governing the thermodynamic properties from the
outset. Most importantly: (i) this treatment reveals the emergence of
holographic properties; (ii) the conformal coupling parameter is shown to be
related to the Hawking temperature; and (iii) Schwarzschild-like coordinates,
despite their ``coordinate singularity,''can be used self-consistently to
describe the thermodynamics of black holes.
