Legendary investor George Soros is trading bitcoin after eyeing digital tokens for years, report says

• Legendary investor George Soros' fund is to start trading bitcoin, according to a report.
• Soros Fund Management, thought to manage around $27 billion, started looking at bitcoin in 2018.
• It would be the latest major fund to invest in bitcoin, which boomed in early 2021 but tumbled in May.
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The investment firm of hedge fund legend George Soros is actively trading bitcoin, after its chief investment officer Dawn Fitzpatrick gave the green light to get involved with digital currencies, The Street reported on Wednesday.

Soros Fund Management has been looking at investing in cryptocurrencies since 2018. In recent months, a number of hedge and investment funds have been drawn to the market, which was worth over $2 trillion before the latest plunge in prices.

Fitzpatrick, the chief investment officer at Soros Fund Management, approved traders to prepare to trade bitcoin in recent weeks, people familiar with the matter told The Street.

She told Bloomberg in March that a fear that governments and central banks were debasing fiat currencies was driving demand for bitcoin. Fitzpatrick said she viewed bitcoin more as a commodity than as a currency.

Soros Fund Management has previously made investments in crypto infrastructure. The firm was once a hedge fund but is now structured as a family office, and manages around $27 billion, Bloomberg said in March.

It was one of a handful of firms that backed New York Digital Investment Group in a $200 million funding round, alongside Morgan Stanley and others.

Bitcoin bull and tech investor Anthony Pompliano said on Twitter that Soros' investment could be "positive or negative depending on how they trade it."

George Soros came to worldwide prominence in the 1990s by betting against the British pound, giving him a reputation as the man who broke the Bank of England.

Soros Fund Management is only the latest major fund to get involved in cryptocurrencies. Paul Tudor Jones was an early mover, while $14 billion fund Brevan Howard moved into the space in April. Steve Cohen's $22 billion fund Point72 is now seeking to hire a head of cryptocurrencies, The Street reported.

Earlier this week, interdealer broker TP ICAP announced it would be setting up a crypto-trading platform aimed at hedge funds, investment banks and other institutions.

Insider was unable to contact Soros Fund Management, but the firm declined to comment to Bloomberg and other outlets, they reported.