Rick Rieder, Chief Investment Officer at BlackRock, said in an interview with CNBC that cryptocurrencies will not disappear anytime soon. BlockRock's CIO also pointed out bitcoin (EXANTE: Bitcoin) is more functional than a bar of gold thanks to its digital nature.
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"It is hard to say whether it is [bitcoin] worth the price it is trading at today. But do I think it is a durable mechanism that... do I think could replace gold to a large extent? Yeah I do, because it is so much more functional" Rieder said.
While BlockRock's portfolio has not big stakes on bitcoin, Rieder believes the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization "is here to stay."
In November 2018, BlackRock said it would not offer its clients bitcoin-ETF until the crypto industry is mature enough and has become legitimate. Such a statement had been made by the company's CEO Larry Fink at the New York Times Dealbook Conference.
"I wouldn't say never, when it's [the industry] legitimate, yes," said Larry Fink, answering whether BlackRock is considering launching such a financial instrument.
At the same time, BlackRock CEO, like many other participants in traditional financial markets, believes in the potential of the blockchain. He believes that the distributed ledger technology can be used in a number of products which are still managed by a paper workflow.
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