Columbia Investment Management Company’s (IMC) co. president and CEO Kim Lew sees crypto as more than just a fad, saying that the industry is “clearly here to stay.”

What Role Will Crypto Play?

In an interview with Bloomberg Wealth, Lew gives her take on the investment potential of cryptocurrency and the many possible directions in which the flourishing industry may be headed.

“There are many different avenues that it can go. There are stablecoins, there’s NFT’s… there’s just the blockchain, the different layers– people are using it for so many different things.”

Despite its many possibilities, the specific niche the crypto space will ultimately fulfill is still a mystery.

“I think clearly it’s here to stay, I think clearly it’s gonna play some role…not clear what role it will play. For us, it’s important to dabble a little, just to make sure that we follow, make sure that we have relationships with people who are going to develop expertise, and we can leverage those expertise to decide which way to go.”

That said, Lew is playing things safe with her investments at IMC for now, staying away from the “volatile” crypto market.

You know there’s a lot of volatility, there’s a lot of risks, which is not something that we’re necessarily getting paid for right now… but for sure we have the ability– because we are long-term investors– to explore new roads. And so cryptocurrency is one of them.

Institutional Investment in Crypto

IMC is described as “a wholly-owned subsidiary of Columbia University,” tasked with handling the University’s managed assets. Therefore, Lew’s words signal a form of investment interest from the institutional academic world – not just the business world.

While Elon Musk and Michael Saylor are willing to stuff their portfolios with Bitcoin from early on, despite the risks, more conservative investors like Kim Lew and IMC may be willing to diversify into crypto as the industry carves a clearer role into society.