Blueprint Capital CEO explains why financial innovation bodes well for crypto

• The Blueprint Capital CEO Jacob Walthour told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that ignoring crypto as an asset class “would be a mistake”

• Major companies, the likes of Starbucks, PayPal, and AT&T accept crypto as a form of payment

• He notes that 14% of American adults already hold cryptocurrencies, with more to consider crypto if the US equity market stalls while cryptocurrencies soar.

The CEO of Blueprint Capital Advisors, a US-based asset management and alternative investment firm, Jacob Walthour, says cryptocurrency’s place as a financial innovation is a great plus to the sector.

Speaking to CNBC’s “Squawk Box” host Joe Kernen on Wednesday, Walthour said that crypto’s growth over the last five years has been huge, despite its Wild West outlook at the time.

According to the investment manager, crypto provides an opportunity for investors, noting that his view of the market is “very constructive” and not informed by the fear of missing out, or FOMO as it is popularly known.

He suggests that the best way of looking at crypto is to consider where and how it all started. He points to Bitcoin’s launch almost 12 years ago and says its growth over this period has been immense.

The Blueprint Capital CEO says that at the moment, there are over 200 exchange platforms that support Bitcoin and that over 14% of American adults own cryptocurrencies.

From cash to check, card and e-payments to crypto

Walthour’s bullish outlook for cryptocurrencies also traces just how far the financial system has changed with innovation after innovation. He says that the world has ideas on how to pay for things developed from cash, to check, then credit and debit cards and e-wallets. Crypto is the latest innovation in this line of money evolution, he noted.

“I think that the use of crypto, to the whole concept of a wallet, is kind of “where do we go from here?” and [I think] that bodes well for crypto overall in terms of its adoption rate over the next five to ten years,” he added.

Crypto is an asset class not to ignore

He then outlined how Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have increasingly been accepted as payment methods at some of the world’s leading companies and businesses. Among the many, he notes names like Starbucks, PayPal, AT&T, and Overstock.com as major players encouraging adoption.

In this respect, Walthour warns that it would likely be a mistake for investors to ignore crypto as an asset class. He adds that should a scenario arise where crypto outperforms the US equity market, then a “herd mentality” is possible, resulting in a lot of capital flowing from equities into crypto assets.

He also believes that digital coins outperforming equities adds legitimacy to the idea that “crypto is an asset class from the diversification point of view.”

“I think it’d be a mistake to ignore this asset class which has looked like the wild west for the last 5 or so years,” says Blueprint Capital’s @JacobWalthour. “But if we see a stall in the U.S. equity market and a rise in #crypto, I think herd mentality could take over here.” pic.twitter.com/4PEcA8qBo8

— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) December 29, 2021

An Arcane Research report published this week shows that Bitcoin has outperformed the S&P 500 over the last three years, with 2021 making that four given the crypto is up over 73% year-to-date compared to about 27% for the stock market index.

Arcane also predicts Bitcoin will outperform S&P 500 in 2022, with Fundstrat Global Advisors’ Tom Lee predicting an 11% jump for the stock index over next year.

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