Citadel Securities, Ken Griffin's company, was at the heart of the GameStop saga Michael Kovac/Getty Images
Citadel's Ken Griffin stated that bitcoin will soon be replaced by a better cryptocurrency such as ethereum.
DealBook's Andrew Ross Sorkin was told by Griffin that there is only one way to value cryptocurrency.
Griffin dismissed his involvement in GameStop's saga, saying it was a SNL joke.
According to an interview with Andrew Ross Sorkin, Citadel's Ken Griffin believes bitcoin will be dismantled by a superior cryptocurrency that is based on Ethereum's blockchain.
After Griffin stated that cryptocurrencies can only be valued by hoping someone will purchase them at a higher cost in the future, the comments were made. Griffin is still skeptical about crypto and sees no commercial uses for it due to its high energy footprint, low transaction speeds and vulnerability to fraud.
Griffin stated that the blockchain technology behind cryptocurrency is "really intriguing technology", a powerful way for the world to keep a decentralized ledger. However, Griffin claimed that it is not the solution we need for most problems.
Griffin thinks that bitcoin will be replaced by a new generation cryptocurrency, based on the Ethereum blockchain. This is due to its speedier transactions per second and smaller energy footprint. It also has lower transaction costs.
Griffin stated that a digital dollar could eventually disrupt the cryptocurrency market. He cited China's efforts to create a digital currency as an example.
"I think that we all are still trying to figure out if we want this world of decentralized financial and want a low-cost and efficient payment system. Is it going to be solved through the crypto community?" Is it possible to solve the problem with a digital currency? Griffin asked the question, pointing out that things are still in their early stages.
Griffin stated that everyone benefits from Citadel's order flow business with Robinhood and that most 20-year-olds he knows are grateful for America's current market structure. Online brokerage firms can offer fractional share investing and trading at $0 commissions through order flow payment.
Griffin has been attacked by retail investors as a key participant in a conspiracy between Robinhood, Citadel, and mem-stocks like GameStop, AMC Entertainment, and Citadel. Reddit's WallStreetBets often discusses the conspiracy that Citadel used to force online brokerages to restrict investors' ability to purchase GameStop shares and other meme-stocks during its massive short squeeze earlier in the year.
This conspiracy theory is not supported by any evidence, even though a recent SEC report found no evidence.
Griffin responded by calling the conspiracy Griffin is a part of "a bad comedy joke story saga, similar to a Saturday Night Live joke in real-time."
In response to a question from a Twitter user asking whether Tesla's chief should sell 10% of his stake, the executive said that he and Elon Musk live in "a whole other world".
Griffin stated, "I have known Elon since a long time. I never thought we'd let our ownership stakes dictated by a Twitter poll." Musk posted a poll last weekend that determined that Musk should sell a stake of his company, which is worth approximately $20 billion.
