Mets owner Steve Cohen says his son helped change his mind on cryptocurrency

He was at this time a bit skeptical of cryptocurrency trends but now has a big platform to shake things up.

Interestingly, his son - a cryptomaniac - helped change his mind.

What was it like to do? Cohen, founder of Point 72 Asset Management and owner of the New York Mets, said in Tuesday’s Skybridge Alternatives Conference, according a person with knowledge of his remarks. That was part of a journey that included meeting with as many people as he could over the past six months to educate himself about potential options.

Once I decided there were opportunities, and I thought this could be a space like the internet - it could be incredibly transformational - I wasn t going to miss this. Cohen said in a conversation titled Generating Alpha in Markets and Baseball and moderated by Skybridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci.

Cohen, 65, who has a net worth of $11.1 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, has since thrown himself in to Crypto in both a personal capacity and at his company.

He announced this week that he was investing in Radkl, a digital trading firm for quantitative assets. That was also after Cohen s family office invested Recur, a non-fungible token company, said Cohen's latest funding round. Scaramucci told Cohen that Point 72 is building crypto-selling capabilities at the firm.

Cohen's interest in virtual world extends beyond crypto. He expressed a fascination with the Metaverse, or a vision of a virtual world where people interact through avatars.

There's some far-out ideas out there, about how people are going to spend their time, he said. Your mind can run wild, he added, about how people interact in the metaverse and possibly buying virtual real estate and virtual outfits for their avatars.

Cohen, a Mets fan since childhood who bought the team for $2.5 billion in December, also addressed the club's performance and why he loves owning it.

It brought me into a different realm said Cohen. Owning a hedge fund can give you some prestigious status, but it s nothing like owning a sports team in New York. It has been a tough year for the Mets, who lose 19 of 28 matches in August against the Mets in the National League East.

Jared Porter fired Cohen CEO in January over allegations of sexual harassment. Last month, Acting General Manager Zachariah Cohen was arrested on a drunken driving charge after she left a charity fundraiser in Cohen s house. He was placed on administrative leave after having pleaded not guilty.

The billionaire weighed in on Twitter, where he has been more vocal since acquiring the Mets, saying it has helped people see him as a human being, and not just a wealthy hedge fund owner.

Cohen said Twitter is a difficult place to be, "they are great" in this regard. It's a great way to interact with fans and have your own voice. For more details see also: Steve Cohen Shuts Down His Twitter Account After Received Threats?