New York – Bitcoin may be locked in a difficult market now, but long-term investors should look far ahead, according to Pantera Capital CEO Dan Morehead.
“In 10 years from now, bitcoin will massively outperform gold. That much is obvious,” Morehead said during a panel with Bitmine Immersion (BMNR) chairman Tom Lee at the Ondo Summit in New York City on Tuesday.
“Paper money depreciates at 3% every year, and that’s called stable money,” Morehead said. “Now, over your lifetime, it’s 90%,” he continued. “So it makes perfect sense to invest in something with a fixed amount, like gold or bitcoin.”
While Bitcoin and gold have traded in cycles, Morehead noted, investors’ attention tends to rotate. “Gold was way ahead, but they’re going back and forth,” he said, adding that overall ETF inflows into both assets have been roughly the same over the past few years.
An equally bullish Tom Lee cast some shade on the four-year cycle that some believe is driving the current downturn. “I don’t think it’s a four-year cycle,” he said, citing divergent metrics like Ethereum’s increasing activity and accelerated deleveraging that occurred during the October 2025 crypto crash. “It was a bigger wipeout than November 2022,” Lee argued.
Morehead also said institutional exposure to crypto remains minimal despite recent developments such as the launch of bitcoin ETFs. “All these $100 billion alt companies have no bitcoin or crypto, and that’s why I’m still so bullish,” he said. “You can’t have a bubble when the median holdings of institutional investors… is literally 0.0.”
According to Morehead, the reasons that once kept large institutions away are disappearing. “The list of reasons to say no to crypto used to be super long… They’re pretty much all crossed off,” he said, pointing to improving custodial options and regulatory clarity.
He argued that blockchain’s 80% annual return over 12 years and its low correlation with stocks make it a rare asset class that offers both high growth and portfolio diversification. “There has never been a better asset class in history.”
Lee agreed that blockchain infrastructure is quietly becoming embedded in the financial system. “I think crypto is starting to become invisibly more a part of everyone’s life,” he said, pointing to stablecoins, tokenized assets and crypto-powered neobanks as examples. “People can actually start using crypto without realizing they’re actually using crypto.”
On regulatory shifts, both speakers said the United States is at an inflection point. “It’s night and day to have clarity,” Morehead said. “We’re going from such an incredibly negative point to now, I’d call it neutral… and hopefully the U.S. will be neutral soon.”
Looking ahead, Morehead sees several catalysts, including a possible “global arms race” to acquire bitcoin among both U.S. allies and adversaries. “Countries… will realize, like China, that it’s super crazy to have 1,000 years of your life savings tucked away in an asset that [Treasury Secretary] Scott Bessent can cancel. It’s crazy. It is much smarter to buy bitcoin.”
