As Citadel prepares to enter the crypto market, the billionaire admits he was wrong about Bitcoin

American multinational hedge fund and financial services firm Citadel is preparing to enter the cryptocurrency market this year.

In an interview with Bloomberg Fortune, Citadel founder Ken Griffin said the market is currently at a "very volatile inflection point" given the recent geopolitical conflict.

When it comes to digital assets, Griffin revealed that the company will venture into the digital asset market this year. Previously, Griffin had warned younger generations to stay away from digital assets, saying there was "no need to use cryptocurrencies."

"It's fair to assume that over the next few months, you'll see us participating in the cryptocurrency market."

Compared to the November 2017 turnaround, Griffin said: "Bitcoin now has many elements of the tulip mania we saw in the Netherlands hundreds of years ago." Back then, when BTC was trading around $10,000, he added "These bubbles often end in tears. I'm worried about how this bubble will end," he said.

In an interview with Bloomberg Fortune, Griffin admitted that he has been wrong to be in the “naysayer’s camp” when it comes to digital assets. “Cryptocurrency has been one of the greatest stories in finance over the past 15 years,” he said, adding:

“Let me be clear, I have been in the naysayer camp during that time. But today the crypto market is about $2 trillion, which shows that I was wrong.”

He said he remained skeptical, but "there are hundreds of millions of people in the world today who disagree with this.

“As far as we’re trying to help institutions and investors with their portfolio allocation issues, we have to think hard about being a market maker in cryptocurrencies.”

Citadel analyzes global markets using a range of strategies to deliver market-leading returns to its capital partners. Griffin expects the firm to incorporate crypto assets into these strategies in the coming months.

In January, Citadel Securities announced that it had received its first external investment worth $1.15 billion from two well-known crypto venture capital firms, Sequoia capital and Paradigm. Citadel currently manages approximately $38 billion in assets, with a post-money valuation of $22 billion.

As recently as November, Griffin remained highly skeptical of cryptocurrencies, saying at the time that people were preoccupied with new ideas, and he worried that “some of that enthusiasm is misplaced when it comes to cryptocurrencies.”

The billionaire investor continues to tout ethereum's properties, but argues that ethereum-based assets will eventually replace bitcoin, which has a greater environmental impact.