Bitcoin is 'here to stay' thanks to huge demand from millennials, BlackRock's Rick Rieder says

• Bitcoin is "is here to stay," BlackRock's chief investment officer of fixed income Rick Rieder told CNBC on Friday.
• Rieder pointed to millenials openness to cryptocurrencies and digital payments as one reason why the popular crypto currency isn't going anywhere.
• While Rieder said he doesn't own bitcoin in his own portfolio, he does see potential for bitcoin to "take the place of gold to a large extent," according to the interview.
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Bitcoin isn't going anywhere, according to BlackRock's CIO of fixed income Rick Rieder.

In an interview with CNBC on Friday, Rieder said bitcoin is "here to stay" thanks to millenials' openness to the cryptocurrency and digital payments in general.

The comments come in a month where bitcoin has surged 37% to levels not seen since its run to just under $20,000 in December of 2017.

Rieder believes bitcoin has real potential to "replace gold to a large extent" given that it's a durable mechanism for means of trade, more so than gold at least.

"[Bitcoin] is so much for functional than passing a bar of gold around," Rieder said.

Read more: 'I still think there's a long way to go': A crypto CEO breaks down why he's bullish on Bitcoin even after its surge back to $18,000 — and shares the other cryptocurrency he thinks is here to stay

Rieder isn't alone in that thinking. JPMorgan said it sees "considerable" upside in bitcoin as it better competes with gold as an alternative currency, according to a note from October.

JPMorgan said it sees millennials accelerating adoption of bitcoin, which will further its status as both a store of wealth and means of payment.

"Even a modest crowding out of gold as an 'alternative' currency over the longer term would imply doubling or tripling of the bitcoin price," JPMorgan said.

Other investors weighing in on bitcoin's rapid rise this year and where they see it going next include billionaire investors Chamath Palihapitiya Stanley Druckenmiller, and Ray Dalio.

While Rieder believes in the long term outlook of bitcoin, he has yet to add any to his investment portfolios, according to the interview.

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