The Chief Investment Officer of the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, believes that Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are here to stay. Although he hasn’t invested in BTC, Rick Rieder asserted that Bitcoin could “take the place of gold to a large extent.”
Founded in 1988 in New York, BlackRock is an American global investment management corporation. In fact, it’s the world’s largest asset manager with over $7 trillion in AUM as of the end of 2019.
Its CIO, the person making the investment decisions, recently appeared on CNBC’s Squawk Box and discussed Bitcoin. Perhaps due to the recent price increases that led BTC to new highs, the primary cryptocurrency has become a hot topic of discussion among many traditional investors.
When asked about BTC’s role in the digitizing world, Rieder said that “Bitcoin is here to stay.” He attributed it mostly to the durability of the technology behind it and that the younger generations are more receptive towards the innovation within the financial world:
“I think that digital currencies, and their receptivity, particularly millennials’ receptivity of technology and cryptocurrencies, is real. Digital payment systems are real.”
Interestingly, a recent report covered by CryptoPotato confirmed Rieder’s words as it singled out Bitcoin as the most attractive investment instrument for millennials.
The executive at BlackRock noted that “I don’t do a lot of it [Bitcoin] or any of it in my corporate portfolios, and it’s hard to say if it’s worth the price it’s trading today.” However, he outlined that due to the aforementioned “durable mechanism,” it could take the place of gold to a large extent.
He believes that the cryptocurrency is much more functional than the precious metal as it’s much easier to send coins from one spot to another using the internet rather than “passing a bar of gold around.”
The narrative that BTC could compete or even surpass the bullion has been brought out lately by other traditional financial institutions. A report compiled by JPMorgan Chase & Co indicated that Bitcoin’s price could expand tenfold as institutional investors are more inclined to get involved.
A Managing Director with another large multinational bank, Citibank, predicted an even higher price tag. He recently claimed that Bitcoin could reach $318,000 per coin because it operates as the “new gold.”
Featured Image Courtesy of CNBC
