Rick Rieder, BlackRock's chief investment officer of global fixed income, is a believer in cryptocurrencies. "I think it could have some real upside. My sense is there are more buyers than sellers. It's an asset class that I think is durable," Rieder said on Yahoo Finance Live. 

Rieder revealed he owns "small pieces" of crypto in several of his bigger portfolios, and compares the positions to owning stakes in venture capital firms.  "Quite frankly, I am glad I do [own crypto]. This has helped me learn about the evolution of what I think will be a blockchain technology that will continue to grow. So it's something I am glad I got involved with," Rieder added.

By Amy Liu