BlackRock CIO On Bitcoin: I Like Volatile Assets With Upside Convexity

BlackRock’s Rick Rieder owns some Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and believes its value could go up significantly in the future.

What Happened: In an interview with CNBC’s "Squawk Box," the BlackRock Inc (NYSE: BK) chief investment officer explained the value of holding Bitcoin as a speculative tool.

“Part of why I own a small piece of Bitcoin is I do think there are more people who are going to enter that fray over time,” he said. “I like assets that are volatile that have upside convexity. I could see Bitcoin, like it has done, go up significantly, but I think it's volatile."

Why It Matters: With nearly $9.5 trillion in assets under management, BlackRock is the world’s largest asset manager.

Although it has yet to disclose any intent to directly acquire and hold cryptocurrency, the asset manager has sizeable holdings in certain crypto mining stocks.

A SEC filing from August revealed that BlackRock holds $207 million in Marathon Digital Holdings (NASDAQ: MARA) and $175 million in Riot Blockchain Inc (NASDAQ: RIOT).

In January, BlackRock also moved to include cash-settled Bitcoin futures in two of its funds: the BlackRock Global Allocation Fund and the BlackRock Strategic Income Opportunities Portfolio.

Price Action: At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading at $44,637, down 2.8% over 24 hours. The market-leading cryptocurrency has lost 14% of its value over the last seven days.

BlackRock shares dropped by 0.6% Friday to close at a price of $916.62.