Pantera founder: Bitcoin has reached escape velocity

Author: Dan Morehead, founder of Pantera; Translated by: 0xjs@黄金财经

CNBC Squawk Box interviewed me on November 26, 2024 when Pantera Bitcoin Fund's return reached 1,000 times.

Joe: "Our next guest has witnessed the rise of cryptocurrencies with his own eyes. Welcome Dan Morehead, founder and managing partner of Pantera Capital. The company released some news on Bitcoin's rise this morning. The Pantera Bitcoin Fund recently hit a milestone of 1,000 times its increase since its inception.

"You were kind enough to send us the original memo you wrote in 2013, when you basically said, 'Okay, now is the time - Bitcoin has pulled back, it's time to buy'. It pulled back from $130 to $65, and the fund was [launched] at that time. You said, 'I'm personally going to buy 30,000 Bitcoins'. This is the launch of the first institutional investment vehicle for Bitcoin…

“Right now, this is up 30% after a 1,000x increase.”

Dan: “It’s still early, though. I think the median institutional ownership of blockchain is zero. Most institutions have zero investment in blockchain, and even the ones that are really progressive and really committed to blockchain only have 1% or 2% of their funds allocated to blockchain. I think we have decades to go…”

“I wouldn’t bet my life savings that Bitcoin will go up, but for eleven years, the price of Bitcoin has almost doubled every year on average. What if it goes up for another year?”

Joe:  “Would you bet it wouldn’t go to zero?”

Dan:  “To be conservative, I used to tell people it would definitely go to zero. But, I don’t think that’s possible now. The U.S. has 50 million people own it. 300 million people worldwide own it. BlackRock and Fidelity are selling it to retail investors. It’s really reached escape velocity.” Joe: “But your forecast was $740,000… I heard from Michael Saylor the other day it was $13 million.” Dan: “Since we launched the Pantera Bitcoin Fund, the market cap of Bitcoin has grown by three orders of magnitude. I think it could grow by another order of magnitude. That would mean a $15 trillion market cap, which is still relatively small compared to $500 trillion in financial assets. It’s doable.” Election Results Newsflash, Crypto Holders Voted Most Americans are under the age of 40.

They love blockchain.

And then they vote.

For months I’ve been writing about how politicians ignore blockchain enthusiasts at their peril. It’s really happening.

Young people passionate about blockchain decided this election.

Women under 30 are up 14 points in favor of President Trump since the last election. President Trump hasn’t done much to support women or the Constitution since November 2020, so you have to conclude that this is driven by his strongly pro-blockchain policy changes.

Men under 30 are up 29 points! This is crazy.

They voted for Donald Trump for president by 14 percentage points. I haven’t heard the term “young Republicans” since the 80s.

This picture is clear — young people changed the election. Most Americans are under the age of 40. They voted for crypto.

The End of Anti-Crypto Lawmakers

As I’ve written in the past, I’ve never understood who in Congress would oppose crypto. Who is the imaginary member of Congress who is against crypto? Who would support a representative in Congress who is against crypto? It just doesn’t make sense.  

While new technology should not be partisan in the first place, if it is politicized, it should be Democrats promoting Bitcoin. This is the dream of progressives.

While the Republican sweep is well known, less is known about the significant changes beneath the surface. This will completely change Congress as anti-crypto senators are successfully targeted and removed from office. Just like Senator Sherrod Brown was ousted by an unknown pro-Bitcoin car dealer who was backed by a $40 million Bitcoin PAC.

Of the 58 general election candidates supported by crypto super PACs, the blockchain industry won 54 to 4.

The incoming 119th Congress is:

House: 274 for crypto, 122 against

Senate: 20 for crypto, 12 against

I think the anti-crypto rhetoric of members of Congress is over. Four years from now, when we recount, I will be surprised to find that any of the 122 anti-crypto Congressmen are still around. They will either “switch” and support blockchain, or lose the next election.

This will allow the blockchain industry’s talented people to refocus all their energy on creative advancement.