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Billionaire investor Steven Cohen is entering the emerging market by investing into a cryptocurrency hedge fund that favors Bitcoin and Ethereum over Ripple.Â
Billionaire Steven Cohen Gets into Bitcoin
Cohen Private Ventures â the hedge fund of Steven A. Cohen, whose estimated net worth currently stands at $14 billion USD â has invested in Autonomous Partners, led by early Bitcoin investor Arianna Simpson.
âIâve only brought on partners that I think can be very much value-add [sic] beyond their capital,â Simpson told Fortune.
The move comes despite crypto hedge funds being hammered so far this year â with the total cryptocurrency market cap contracting from $800 to around $250 billion.
Launched in December 2017 when Bitcoin was roaring, Autonomous Partners invests in digital assets and blockchain startups while allocating a small share of its funds to buy well-established cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin 00 and Ethereum 00.
The fund is particularly interested in solutions that can speed up transactions and help blockchains scale globally, as well as provide greater privacy for users.
Despite always âlooking at what is the next generation,â however, Simpson still thinks âmoneyâ is the most underrated blockchain application â though she adds that itâs probably just easier for investors to buy Bitcoin outright.
I still think âmoneyâ is the most underrated blockchain application.
â Arianna Simpson (@AriannaSimpson) July 12, 2018
Rippleâs Centralization a Cause for Concern
Notably, Cohenâs investment will not be exposed to Ripple 00. Simpsonâs fund has shunned the third largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization due to concerns over its centralization â as the company Ripple holds the lionâs share of its XRP tokens.
Additionally, when the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)Â stated that Bitcoin and Ethereum are not securities last month, it left the door open to classifying less âdecentralisedâ digital assets as securities in the future.
In any case, the possibility of Ripple being drawn into even more lawsuits â particularly with government regulators â certainly presents a big risk for hedge funds, as Ripple has faced endless scrutiny over its decentralization claims.Â
âItâs quite clear to us that Ripple is a security,â said Multicoin cofounder, Kyle Samani. âIf Ripple is labeled a security formally by the SEC, all of the crypto exchanges are going to stop trading Ripple.
So if that happens, liquidity is going to dry up on XRP and the price will plummet.
Meanwhile, Rippleâs chief market strategist, Cory Johnson, has denied the claims. âWe absolutely are not a security,â he stated. âWe donât meet the standards for what a security is based on the history of court law.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse also disagreed with the assumptions that XRP is a security, while, ironically, urging Coinbase to list the XRP token. He said:Â
I think itâs really clear that XRP is not a security. I donât think that our ownership of XRP gives us control. Saudi Arabia owns a lot of oilâthat doesnât give them control of oil.
Will Steven Cohenâs investment mark the start of institutional money flowing into cryptocurrencies? Share your thoughts below!Â
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