Citadel CEO Admits Fault for Calling Bitcoin Usage a “Jihadist Call”

Key Insights:

• Ken Griffin, CEO of Citadel LLC, said he was wrong about crypto.
• He stated that Citadel would give serious thought to the possibility of being a market maker in crypto.
• Citadel Securities recently received a $1.15 billion investment from crypto company Paradigm and Sequoia.

 

One of the biggest names in the financial industry, Citadel LLC is a leading hedge fund. With over $39 billion in AUM (assets under management), the 32-year-old company was the second-largest hedge fund by net gains in 2021, as per Bloomberg.

Also founded by Citadel’s CEO, the market maker Citadel Securities is alone responsible for handling 40% of the stock trades in the country.

Citadel CEO Changes Opinion

Ken Griffin, the CEO of Citadel LLC, had a reputation for being notoriously critical about cryptocurrencies and the DeFi industry.

In the past, he has stated very clearly that he isn’t fond of crypto and even went on to call choosing cryptocurrencies a “Jihadist call.”

However, his opinion seems to have changed recently, as he stated in an interview with Bloomberg that he was wrong about what he said.

When asked about the future of crypto regarding Citadel LLC, Griffin remarked that the growth of crypto has been exceptional.

Calling it a “great story,” Griffin acknowledged that he wasn’t right about crypto entirely given the $2 trillion market cap feat crypto has achieved. He added,

“I still have my skepticism, but there are hundreds and millions of people in this world today who disagree with that. To the extent that we’re trying to help institutions and investors solve their portfolio allocation problems, we have to give serious consideration to being a market maker in crypto. It’s fair to assume that over the months to come, you will see us engage in making markets in cryptocurrencies.”

Citadel’s intentions might have been in the works for a while now as the company recently witnessed its first affiliation with crypto.

Earlier in January, the company received an investment of $1.15 billion from Sequoia Capital and crypto company Paradigm.

Ken Isn’t Alone

Opinions about the crypto industry cannot remain canon because of the always-changing environments. The same has been proven by multiple big names who previously refrained from accepting crypto but do today.

One as such was Kevin O’Leary. The TV host who referred to crypto as garbage changed his opinion earlier last year when he allocated 3% of his portfolio to Bitcoin.

Another famous name and face is Jordan Belfort, the Wolf of Wall Street, who predicted crypto would go away.

However, that changed in 2021 when he predicted Bitcoin to reach $100,000, citing the merits of the technology.