Hedge fund manager Ken Griffin, who built his hedge fund Citadel Asset Management to $30 billion in assets under management, derided Bitcoin, saying that he and his peers turn the other cheek at the mention of the cryptocurrency.
“I don’t have a single portfolio manager [of mine]who has told me we should buy bitcoin, not a single portfolio manager,” said Griffin at the Delivering Alpha Conference in New York on Wednesday. “I have a hard time finding myself wanting to be in a position for being a liquidity provider for a product I don’t believe in.”
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Furthermore, Griffin threw barbs at the younger generation, wishing they would invest in more tangible, productive activities versus cryptocurrencies.
“I still scratch my head,” said Griffin.
Nonetheless, Bitcoin shrugged off naysayers, climbing about 10% higher within the past 24 hours to its current price of $7,401.58 as of 11:30 a.m. ET. Since the start of the year, Bitcoin has fallen by about 50% in a massive sell-off after hitting the $20,000 price mark in late December 2017.
Related: Bitcoin Gains 10%, Largest Increase in Three Months
“Markets have been reacting to a number of positive pieces of news, mostly circling around big names such as BlackRock,” said Ryan Rabaglia, head trader with cryptocurrency dealing firm Octagon Strategy Ltd. in Hong Kong. “With any indication of institutional interest in this space comes positive price action, even if it’s unclear in nature. The market just eats it up.”
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