The manager of Old Mutual Gold & Silver Fund, a precious metals fund with over $220 mln under control has said Bitcoin is “paving the way” for a global gold comeback.
Speaking to Bloomberg in an interview published today, Ned Naylor-Leyland said that the marriage of Bitcoin and gold was essentially a logical one given the characteristics and remit of both.
“Bitcoin was explicitly designed to be digital gold,” he said.
“So if you’re going to have a small proportion of a fund in Bitcoin, it should be in a gold fund because that’s exactly the point.”
The fund, which began in April this year, is aiming to allocate up to five percent to cryptocurrency, creaming off profits from price upticks to reinvest back into gold and silver.
Naylor-Leyland is highly bullish on the concept going forward, echoing CME Group’s Chairman Emeritus Leo Melamed in his desire to bring discipline to the scene for investors.
“It’s about bringing the ownership of disciplined money into the modern world,” he continued. “Bitcoin is paving the way for the reintroduction of gold as global money.”
Not everyone in the wider gold industry is as happy with the status quo, however. Discussing a drop in profits, BullionVault Research Director Adrian Ash said earlier this month that Bitcoin “noise” was “distracting” some investors and leading to gold being sidelined.