Ex-Morgan Stanley CEO Sees Crypto Having A Place In Future Of Money
Former CEO of the major US investment bank Morgan Stanley, John Mack, suggests that bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrencies may become a part of the increasingly digitalized world of trading, and that many of us may live to see it.
Talking about whether Wall Street would become digitised in the future, Mack said that he does not think “it goes away,” but that it will change “dramatically.”
“Take crypto. It’s hard for me to understand why does it have value,” he said and added:
“So 50 years from now, maybe that will be a huge way that monetary transactions take place.”
Mack suggested that it is trivial to wire crypto. As everything is online, people don’t need to worry about putting their money in banks, but “you got to make sure it’s insulated, protected, and no one can break into it,” he stated.
However, he went on to predict that crypto and digitalization in the realm of trade may become the standard in the near future.
“Fifty years from now, I think things will be even more electronic and driven more and more by input from humans in the computers on how to trade, how to take risks, and to make sure they don’t go over their limits.”
Mack has been a cryptocurrency investor for some time. When asked whether he still had bitcoin, he said, “Yes.”
Among his investments, he shared that through his family office, “we have some outright positions in crypto.”
Mack is a senior adviser for the investment company Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and the former CEO and board chairman of Morgan Stanley. He was the bank’s chief executive officer from 2005 to 2010, and chairman from 2005 to 2012. He was the CEO of the worldwide investment firm Credit Suisse from 2001 until 2004.
Morgan Stanley has also just joined the cryptocurrency market. In March 2021, for instance, it announced its intention to provide three bitcoin funds to its wealthy clientele.
As of October, the CEO of Morgan Stanley, James Gorman, was less dismissive of cryptocurrencies than other investment banking professionals. “I don’t think crypto is a fad. I don’t think it’s going to go away,” Gorman said during an earnings call. “I don’t know what the value of bitcoin should or shouldn’t be. But these things aren’t going away,” the CEO said.
In addition, twelve institutional funds administered by Morgan Stanley may have had indirect exposure to bitcoin via cash-settled futures or investments in Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, according to a March 31 filing by the bank.
