E191: Dan Tapiero: After 35 Years, I Figured Out The Secrets To Getting Rich In Crypto

Dan Tapiero (0:00)

Crypto is the easiest place in the world to make money. It's just the most impossible to hold on to it. And the most difficult thing is that every three, four years, you have a bear market. It attempts to wipe out everyone and then a few survive.

Kevin Follonier (0:12)

What are the secrets to getting rich in crypto that nobody wants to hear?

Dan Tapiero (0:15)

I said this before, the trick is not.

SPEAKER_3 (0:19)

Dan Tapiero, the founder of 50T Funds, a $1.7 billion digital asset investment firm, a veteran macro investor backing Bitcoin, blockchain infrastructure, and the convergence of AI and crypto.

Kevin Follonier (0:31)

What do rich people understand about money that most people don't?

Dan Tapiero (0:34)

I always say something to my kids. You are wealthy because you have money, not because you spend it. When you spend it, it goes away. You see in all the social media, all this excessive spending and jets and this and that. The reality is wealthy people are a little more careful and more practical.

Kevin Follonier (0:51)

Where are we in the great crypto wealth cycle?

Dan Tapiero (0:54)

We're in the first inning of the digitization of liquid assets. But digitization of illiquid assets is the holy grail for our space. That's when people understand the value of blockchain. If we find a company that's making 50 to 100 million dollars in revenue, that is doing something in the tokenization of illiquid assets for real, we'll put hundreds of millions into that.

Kevin Follonier (1:15)

This illiquid asset coming on chain, but it's nothing big yet. But on the liquid side, it's becoming massive. What's some good ways to bet on this trend?

Dan Tapiero (1:24)

Variational is one way to play that. You think hype is another, and you have things like...

Kevin Follonier (1:30)

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Dan, you've spent 30 years around some of the world's best investors. What do rich people understand about money that most people don't?

Dan Tapiero (2:13)

What do rich people? Well, I always say something to my kids and especially to my wife. And I say, you know, you are wealthy because you have money, not because you spend it.

So when you spend it, it leaves you. It goes away.

So I think that that is something that wealthy people understand, that, you know, you see in all the social media, all this excessive spending and, you know, jets and this and that. And the reality is that wealthy people are a little more careful and more practical. You know, if you can, if you can do something in a reasonable way that's a fraction of the cost, you do it. And the people who are excessive, I mean, look, I, you know, we lived in, in Greenwich, it's, you know, you have all sorts. You have the very, you know, old, old money Americans who are descended from the people who landed in Greenwich in 1630 or 40 And, you know, they live in very modest homes and, you know, yet they own big tracts of land in Greenwich and they live modestly. And then you have people who are, you know, Nouveau who've just made money 10 years ago and they go out and they buy the 40,000 square foot house with the horses and this and that. And so, I think balance is, you know, balance and perspective. And you have to be a little careful and have some limits, you know.

Kevin Follonier (3:54)

Is Dan Tapiero on Instagram? Because you mentioned social media and all these people showing their lives.

Dan Tapiero (3:58)

My daughters banned me from Instagram when it came out. They're like, Daddy, you can't have an Insta account. And so I don't have Instagram. Why? I think they just didn't want me to see their posts because they were in high school and they're posting at parties maybe. And you know, the last thing they want is for me to see them, whatever it is. And then I complain and my wife supported that as well. So I have no Instagram.