Bitcoin soars again after BlackRock says it could replace gold
Bitcoin soars again after BlackRock says it could replace gold
New York (CNN Business) Bitcoin is often referred to as digital gold . And now a top strategist at the world’s largest asset management firm says the cryptocurrency could one day replace the yellow metal as a go-to safe haven investment.
Bitcoin prices surged 4% Friday to above $18,700 — inching closer to the all-time high of just under $20,000 from December 2017 — after BlackRock ( BLK ) ‘s chief investment officer of fixed income, Rick Rieder, said in a CNBC interview that bitcoin is here to stay. “Do I think it’s a durable mechanism that could take the place of gold to a large extent? Yeah, I do, because it’s so much more functional than passing a bar of gold around,” Rieder said. The endorsement from BlackRock , which manages nearly $8 trillion in assets , is the latest sign of validation of bitcoin from the mainstream financial world. Bitcoin rockets past $18,000. The all-time high is in sight Square ( SQ ) and PayPal ( PYPL ) have endorsed it as a viable form of payment , and influential hedge fund managers Stanley Druckenmiller and Paul Tudor Jones have touted it as a investment. Read More Still, gold moved higher on Friday, too. Gold and bitcoin have benefited from a weaker dollar . Investors increasingly view bitcoin as a viable alternative to paper, government-backed currencies.
