People can “lose faith in paper money”

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E-commerce pioneer Thomas Peterffy has become a cryptocurrency enthusiast.

“I have for some time [owned cryptocurrencies]. I own cryptos and I own gold. I have to say that cryptos have done much, much better than gold, ”said the founder of Interactive Brokers on Yahoo Finance Live. “I mean you have to be prepared for the small percentage or the likelihood that things could fall apart, especially with all this crazy issuing more and more money.” [by the government]. This spending deficit, I don’t know, people might sooner or later, I’m not saying they will, but they might lose faith in paper money. “

Bitcoin prices climbed to $ 47,500 on Friday afternoon.

The founder is also pushing Interactive Brokers into the booming crypto trading market, which is currently dominated by Coinbase and Robinhood.

This week, Interactive Brokers launched cryptocurrency trading in partnership with regulated blockchain infrastructure platform Paxos. The platform allows customers of Interactive Brokers to trade and hold bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin and bitcoin cash.

“This [crypto trading] could be maybe 20% of our business if you are lucky, ”said Peterffy of the prospects for the new crypto trading platform.

Peterffy has some business in the camp of being a leading name in financial services personally dabbling in the crypto market.

“Frankly, I’m happy to do it [own crypto]. It has helped me learn more about the evolution of what I believe is blockchain technology that will continue to grow. So that’s something I’m happy to get involved in, ”Rick Rieder, chief investment officer of BlackRock, told Yahoo Finance Live. Rieder has revealed that he owns “small chunks” of crypto in several of his larger portfolios, and compares positions to owning stakes in a capital risk firm.

Rieder added: “I think that could have a real benefit. I feel like there are more buyers than sellers. This is an asset class that I think is sustainable.”

The story continues

Cathie Wood of Ark Invest also remains bullish on crypto. It is exposed to the ups and downs of crypto thanks to the performance of leveraged stocks such as Coinbase and Square in its various innovation-driven ETFs.

“Bitcoin in particular is a new global monetary system. It is a rules-based monetary policy, which is completely decentralized and therefore not subject to the whims of policymakers. In fact, it is a hedge against the whims. policymakers, especially in emerging markets, ”Wood said on Yahoo Finance Live.

Brian Sozzi is editor and presenter at Yahoo Finance. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn.

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