Interactive Brokers’ chairman on bitcoin: ‘it’s worth nothing but I own some’

• Thomas Peterffy owns bitcoin for an unusual reason.
• He says crypto activity at IBKR has been very slow.
• BTC is trading well below the $30,000 level today.

Interactive Brokers – a financial services company that enables 24/7 trading of bitcoin reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its first financial quarter this week.

Chairman Peterffy’s view on BTC

On Wednesday, discussing the earnings report with CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin, the firm’s chairman said he owned bitcoin albeit for an unusual reason.

As far as I’m concerned, it’s worth nothing. But I own some even though I believe it’s worth nothing because other people believe that it’s worth something.

Thomas Peterffy also revealed that he did not have a view on where the bitcoin price may be headed from here.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency is trading well under the $30,000 level today perhaps as investors moved to capitalise on its massive run to the upside in recent months.

Crypto trading has been slow at IBKR

Interactive Brokers recorded a 21% annualised increase in customer accounts in its recently concluded quarter to 2.20 million.

Revealing how crypto contributed to the platform’s financial performance in Q1, Chairman Thomas Peterffy said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box”:

Crypto activity on our platform is very slow. We don’t custody crypto – that may be a reason. But generally, crypto trading is much reduced from where it used to be a year or two ago.

He doesn’t have a bullish view on the equities market either and said the S&P 500 should be trading about 20% lower than where it is now.