Ken Griffin brushed aside allegations that his massive hedge fund Citadel Investments had tainted the ‘Reddit Rally’, calling it an ‘insane conspiracy theory’.
Fresh from his testimony on Capitol Hill on Thursday about GameStop’s and AMC Entertainment’s surprise shares last month, the Wall Street billionaire pushed back on Friday to the idea that he was playing both sides of the chaotic short squeeze.
Some Reddit-fueled retail investors have accused his hedge fund of investing $ 2 billion in Melvin Capital – a high-profile hedge fund whose bets they attacked GameStop stock – even when his securities firm was commissioned to conduct many of the GameStop transactions on Robinhood who put pressure on the crippled hedge fund.
In particular, rumors have been circulating that Griffin’s fund was involved in Robinhood’s decision to limit users’ ability to purchase GameStop stock, and that he conspired to block private investors from killing Melvin and its founder, Citadel- alum Gabe Plotkin.
“If I had to run my business until the possibility of an insane conspiracy theory emerging at some point in time,” Griffin told CNBC, “I would have no business.”
When asked directly if his investment in Melvin might have been a mistake at the height of the tightness, Griffin replied curtly, “No, I think Gabe Plotkin is one of the best investors of his generation.”
As for the mighty backers’ thoughts on the red-hot market for Bitcoin, Griffin said he has none.
“I just don’t spend a lot of time thinking about cryptocurrencies,” Griffin said. “I don’t see the economic foundation of cryptocurrencies. I understand how to value a stock … I don’t know how to think about what is basically a digital token. “
Bitcoin hit another all-time high earlier Friday, boosting its aggregate market value above $ 1 trillion after Tesla chief Elon Musk called the cryptocurrency “less dumb” than cash.