In an interview with CNBC on Wednesday, Barry Sternlicht, chairman and CEO of Starwood Capital Group, an investment firm with over $95 billion in assets under management (AUM), discussed bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. Sternlicht’s net worth as of Oct. 14 is $4.4 billion, according to Forbes’ list of billionaires.

The CEO of Starwood Capital admitted to owning bitcoin and ether, adding that cryptocurrency made sense as a method to diversify investment portfolios.

In response to JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon‘s comments on bitcoin being worthless, he remarked, “Gold is kind of worthless too.” When discussing bitcoin as a means of storing wealth, he stated:

The reason I own bitcoin is because the U.S. government, and every government in the Western Hemisphere, is printing money now to the end of time, and this is a finite amount of something and it can be traded globally.

Despite holding Bitcoin, the wealthy CEO stated, “Bitcoin is a dumb coin.” It has no real purpose other than as a store of value, and it is crazily volatile.” He went on to explain why he owned ether. “So, ether… I own some of it. It’s a programmable Bitcoin, and there are tons of other coins built on that system.”

Additionally, Sternlicht stated that he has “become very interested in blockchain technology as a whole.” He feels that technology is “going to change everything,” and that “we’re probably in inning one.”

Patrick.