Ethereum Will Replace Bitcoin: Citadel’s Ken Griffin

Ken Griffin, CEO of $35 billion hedge fund Citadel, thinks Ethereum will replace Bitcoin, and then ETH will get replaced by something else.

In an interview with CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin, Griffin admits he’s still highly skeptical of the crypto industry, and lists a host of different aspects of the space he’s still apprehensive about, such as environment concerns, security, and illicit activity.

From his perspective, crypto is still in its very early innings, and will likely transform into something completely different with all new players in the future. Griffin, whose net worth is over $21 billion, says that Bitcoin will be replaced by something on the Ethereum blockchain with more efficient technology.

“I think we’re going to see Bitcoin be replaced conceptually by Ethereum, and replaced conceptually by the next generation cryptocurrencies that will have the benefits of higher transaction speeds, lower costs per transaction, perhaps people will start to think about how to deal with security and fraud prevention better.”

After Ethereum replaces Bitcoin, Griffin predicted that ultimately digital fiat currencies become the dominant instruments that rule all the blockchains.

“I think the train is in some sense still in the station. I think we’re still trying to understand, if we want to hit this world of decentralized finance, and we want a payment system that’s low cost and effective, is it going to be solved by the crypto community, or is it going to be solved for example by a digital dollar?”

He notes that China is “making a bet all-in on a digital renminbi,” suggesting that the US and the rest of the world follow suit.

While he remains skeptical of crypto in general, he did admit that he wished he bought Bitcoin a couple of years ago when a 21-year-old intern recommended it to him.