The American multinational hedge fund and financial company Citadel are preparing to enter the cryptocurrency markets this year.
Speaking to Bloomberg Wealth with David Rubinstein, Citadel founder Ken Griffin commented on the current state of the markets in light of the recent geopolitical infighting, noting that they are at a “very volatile turning point.”
When the interview was focused on digital assets, Griffin, who had previously warned the younger generation to stay away from it and said that “cryptocurrencies are not necessary,” revealed that the company would enter the cryptocurrency markets this year.
“It is reasonable to assume that in the coming months you will see our participation in the development of the cryptocurrency market.”
The situation has completely changed since November 2017, when Griffin said: “Now there are many elements of the tulip mania in bitcoin that we saw hundreds of years ago in the Netherlands.” At a time when BTC was trading close to $10,000, he added: “These bubbles tend to cry. I’m worried about where this bubble might end up.”
During an interview with Bloomberg Wealth, Griffin admitted that he was wrong to be in the “silent camp” when it comes to digital assets. He stated before adding: “Cryptocurrency has been one of the great stories in finance over the past 15 years.”
“And I’ll be clear, I was in the skeptic camp during this period. But today’s cryptocurrency market has a market value of about $2 trillion in round numbers, which suggests that I was not entirely right in that conversation.”
He remains skeptical, he said, but “there are hundreds and millions of people in this world today who disagree with this.”
“To the extent that we are trying to help institutions and investors solve their portfolio allocation issues, we need to take seriously that we are a market maker of cryptocurrencies.”
Citadel analyzes global markets using a range of strategies to deliver market-leading ROI for its capital partners. Griffin wants the company to include cryptocurrencies in these strategies in the coming months.
In January, Citadel Securities announced its first foreign investment of $1.15 billion from two prominent crypto companies, Sequoia Capital and Paradigm. Assets under management by Citadel are currently around $38 billion and were valued at nearly $22 billion after the investment.
RELATED: Citadel Securities Takes $1.15 Billion from Sequoia and Paradigm
Back in November, Griffin was very skeptical about cryptocurrencies, noting that people were focusing on new ideas at the time and that he was concerned that “some of that passion is misplaced when it comes to cryptocurrencies.”
The billionaire investor continues to push the properties of Ethereum (ETH), but argues that the Ethereum-based asset will eventually replace Bitcoin (BTC), which has a greater environmental impact.
