Investor Dan Loeb says he’s been exploring cryptocurrencies to bridge the gap between traditional finance and new ‘controversial ideas’

Investor Dan Loeb says he’s been exploring cryptocurrencies to bridge the gap between traditional finance and new ‘controversial ideas’

Dan Loeb, the CEO of New York-based hedge fund Third Point, said he's looking at ways to being intellectually open to cryptocurrencies.

"I've been doing a deep dive into crypto lately," Loeb said in a tweet Monday. "It is a real test of being intellectually open to new and controversial ideas."

Loeb was responding to a blog post by Chris Dixon, a general partner at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. Dixon's blog presents the case for digital creators to be paid directly by their "true fans" via a decentralized platform, rather than relying on intermediaries that keep most of the revenue for themselves.

"Crypto, and specifically NFTs (non-fungible tokens), can accelerate the trend of creators monetizing directly with their fans," Dixon wrote. 

Cryptocurrencies have been gaining mainstream support from top Wall Street players including Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Mastercard, Goldman Sachs, Bank of New York Mellon, and bitcoin investor Mike Novogratz. But New York Attorney General Letitia James on Monday called crypto tokens high-risk and unstable investments, and urged investors to exercise caution when trading digital assets.

Citigroup published a report on Monday, which was shot down by the Financial Times' Jemima Kelly, that said bitcoin is at a "tipping point" and it could suffer