Former CEO of Nasdaq says cryptocurrency's betting element should end

Bob Greifeld, former CEO of Nasdaq, doesn't own any Bitcoin. He told The Scoop that he neither believes nor doubts its value as a speculative investment, but said to reach its potential, the betting element must go. Listen on Spotify, iTunes, Google Play, or Stitcher.

However, he said he believes digital currencies provide value to society reducing friction costs. 

"If I could buy and sell in bitcoin, but not have to worry about whether it's at $9,000 or $6.000 today, then that would be a great thing," he said. "So when I think about digital currencies, I like the stablecoin concept."

In the vein of a stablecoins, Greifeld said he sees value in digital currencies tied to sovereign wealth. In the U.S., he said many don't see the importance of transacting in multiple currencies because the country is a one currency environment.

"For a lot of the world, we deal across multiple currencies and there's friction associated with that," he said. "And to the extent you have a digital currency that's more and more global, then I certainly think you can take a bit of friction out of the system and it'd be a great thing."