Despite Crypto Sinking This Ex-Goldman CEO Says It’s Still ‘Happening’

According to Ex-Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfien, cryptocurrency still has hope.

Digital assets have sunk in recent weeks but Blankfien says “crypto is happening.” To be specific by happening, Blankfein means the ecosystem around cryptocurrencies has matured in the past year.

The total market cap of cryptocurrencies fell below $2 trillion last week after reaching a high of $3.1 trillion in November.

“Look, my view of it is evolving,” Blankfein said on CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin on “Squawk Box”. “I can’t predict the future, but I think it’s a big thing to be able to predict the present, like, ‘What is happening?’ And I look at the crypto, and it is happening.”

“It’s lost a lot of value, but at a point where it’s trillions of dollars of value contributing to it and the whole ecosystem growing around it,” he said.
Traditional financial companies including Goldman have begun offering clients ways to buy, trade and custody digital currencies.

“It’s lost a lot of value, but at a point where it’s trillions of dollars of value contributing to it and whole ecosystems are growing around it,” he said. “Of course, we have the benefits of instantaneous transfer and reduction of credit risk and all the benefits of blockchain.”

Blankfein had criticized bitcoin in the past as a store of value and said that regulators should be “hyperventilating” over its rise.

“I may be skeptical, but I’m also pragmatic about it,” Blankfein explained. “And so guess what? I would certainly want to have an oar in that water.”

Disclaimer: We have no position in any of the companies mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.