Investing.com - Cryptocurrencies traded mostly higher on Thursday after an optimistic outlook on the digital assets was delivered from Nasdaq president and chief executive Adena Friedman.
Speaking on the latest episode of CNN podcast Boss Files, Friedman said that cryptocurrency feels like the “right next step in the space of currency” because a “globalized payment mechanism is a natural fit for the cross-border digital economy.”
Friedman didn’t back a particular coin, saying that the jury was still out on “which of the cryptocurrencies may or may not be the one that ultimately gets embraced”.
“But I do think the idea of a more globalized payment mechanism that is more efficient than what we have today allows for money to transfer across countries and certainly supports the Internet economy,” she explained.
Friedman further noted that she believes blockchain technology, on which digital currencies are based, will first take place gradually in markets with less regulation or high levels of inefficiency before being adopted in the global financial system.
The interview follows previous interest expressed by Friedman near the end of April. The Nasdaq chief said that the exchange operator was exploring launching a bitcoin futures product designed to function as a long-term investment.
She also expressed interest in opening a cryptocurrency exchange in the future once the market is more mature.
The comments followed some more damaging opinions expressed this week by billionaire investor Warren Buffett, computer magnate Bill Gates and Wall Street analyst Nick Colas.
Buffett called Bitcoin “rat poison squared” and added that the “asset itself is creating nothing”, while the Microsoft CEO said he would short Bitcoin if he could do so easily.
Colas, considered to be one of the first analysts to cover Bitcoin, expressed his opinion that now was not the time to invest in the digital asset, citing declining interest and wild price swings that he considers indicate anything but a healthy sign of a stable asset class.
The string of negative comments took its toll on cryptocurrencies across the board this week.
Although Bitcoin inched up 0.18% in the last 24 hours to reach $9,338.1 on the Bitfinex exchange by 10:46AM ET (14:46GMT), the largest crypto by market capitalization has lost 5.9% so far this week after an attack at the $10,000 level last Saturday petered out at $9,990.
Major rival Ethereum gained 1.7% to $761.67 in the last 24 hours, but was still on track for weekly losses of 7.1%.
Ripple rose 0.33% to $0.79952 but sported a weekly decline of 11.6%, while Bitcoin Cash, product of the Bitcoin fork and the fourth largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, jumped 4.2% to $1,646.50 but still showed a 6.6% fall for the week.