Former Morgan Stanley CEO John Mack believes that cryptocurrencies could become crucial to the monetary system in the future.
John Mack, a former CEO of Morgan Stanley, spoke at length with CNBC about his new book, ‘Up Close and All In: Life Lessons from a Wall Street Warrior.’
In his book, Mack talked about the cryptocurrency market and its possible impact in the future.
When asked whether digitalisation would take over Wall Street, Mack said the digital world would become a huge part of the financial system. However, he believes that the traditional financial ecosystem will still be around.
Regarding cryptocurrencies, Mack said even though he doesn’t understand why they have value, he stated that they could become huge in the global financial ecosystem. He said;
“For me, it is hard to understand why it has value. So, 50 years from now, maybe that would be a huge way monetary transactions take place. It’s easy to wire, you don’t have to worry about putting your money in the bank, and it’s all on a computer. You also have to make sure it is insulated and protected so no one can break into it.”
Mack added that 50 years from now, he believes things will be even more electronic. The market would be driven more by input from humans into computers on how to trade, how to take risks and to make sure they don’t go over their limits.
The former Morgan Stanley CEO admitted that he still owns some bitcoins. Mack said he has also invested in some hedge funds that have exposure to cryptocurrencies. He added that his family office also has some outright positions in cryptocurrencies.
Earlier this year, analysts at Morgan Stanley predicted that Bitcoin could correct by almost 50% from its all-time high, citing $28,000 as the floor price.
However, Bitcoin has dropped below that price and reached a low of around $18,000 in recent weeks.