Steve Cohen, the billionaire founder of Point72 Asset Management, allocated a modest portion of his portfolio to Bitcoin at the encouragement of his son.
During a CNBC interview Wednesday, he recounted an instance where his son made him attempt a transaction on Coinbase out of his own strong interest in the asset.
Still, he said he does not dedicate much attention to monitoring its activity. “It’s not kind of what I do… There’s certainly an element of the population that believes in it, and maybe it’s the new gold. Hard to know,” he said.
The billionaire has not formed a definitive judgment regarding the cryptocurrency. Ultimately, he believes its value proposition hinges upon the development of practical applications.
“Bitcoin’s interesting, but it’s just a piece of the whole ecosystem,” he added.
From Skeptic to Crypto Investor
Cohen, a prominent American financier renowned for his high-risk, high-reward investment strategies, initially held a skeptical view towards cryptocurrencies. However, his son’s fervent interest in the field piqued his curiosity and ultimately led him to explore its potential.
This culminated in concrete action through Point72 Ventures, Cohen’s investment firm. In 2021, the firm initiated its foray into the crypto sector by participating in a $21m funding round for Messari, a crypto-focused data platform. Furthermore, Cohen’s direct investment in digital asset investment firm Radkl that same year served as a clear demonstration of his interest in the space.
The involvement of prominent figures like Cohen, alongside established financial institutions, demonstrably invigorated the digital asset market in 2021. Even well-regarded institutions such as banks, payment processors, and asset management firms cautiously entered the cryptocurrency space by introducing related services for their clients.
Crypto Trading Platform D2X Secures Funding from Point72
Cohen’s reputation as a Wall Street veteran stretches back for decades. He built an empire – founding two hedge funds that spawned over 80 other companies, minting him a billionaire along the way. One of those was SAC Capital, which he launched in 1992.
Unfortunately, it was shut down in 2013 for insider trading. But Cohen is still in the game, running Point72 as chairman and CEO.
Last month, Point72 Ventures spearheaded a $10m Series A funding round for Netherlands-based crypto derivatives exchange D2X. Notably, D2X secured a license from the Dutch Authority for Financial Markets (AFM), authorizing it to function as a regulated trading platform for cash-settled crypto futures and options.
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