MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — Dan Tapiero, founder of crypto-focused growth equity fund 50T Holdings, is betting that artificial intelligence and blockchain technology will converge in ways the market hasn’t yet priced in.
“Blockchain is AI’s money,” Tapiero said in an interview with CoinDesk. “If you just imagine having thousands of these AI agents acting independently, they won’t be sending wires from JPMorgan. It will all be smart contracts embedded in blockchains.”
Tapiero said he expects about 20% of 50T’s next fund — currently raising capital through early 2026 — to be invested in companies operating at the intersection of AI and blockchain. While acknowledging that these companies “don’t even exist yet” at growth scale, he said he’s confident that “over the next five years it will become a real category.”
Tapiero also shared a bullish but measured view on the trajectory of the crypto market. He said he had the same goal for bitcoin since early 2023: $180,000. First, he expects the asset to consolidate around $100,000 — a level he says has long served as a psychological anchor for bitcoin investors and whales.
“The markets are moving towards round numbers. It’s silly, but it’s real,” he said. “And in crypto, $100K has been the goal for a long time. Holding it a little bit, I think we’re headed for $180K – maybe next summer.”
Bitcoin has traded in the range of $101,000 to $124,000 for the past six months and is currently stuck around $103,000.
While some traders have grown impatient with bitcoin’s stagnant price action, Tapiero cautioned against short-term thinking. “This is the hardest market I’ve ever tried to trade,” he said, referring to his 25 years in traditional markets. “Trying to take a short-term view here is almost impossible.”
Undervalued companies in the growth stage
Tapiero said his firm, which has $2 billion in assets under management and has invested in 24 companies, is seeing some of the best opportunities in its history. With many traditional investors still wary of high-profile collapses like FTX and Celsius, there is minimal competition for growth-stage crypto companies generating $50-100 million in revenue.
“We’re the only growth equity fund in the world that focuses exclusively on crypto. We don’t do seed or venture. And right now we’re dictating prices,” he said.
50T has had six exits this year, including IPOs for Circle (CRCL), Gemini (GEMI) and eToro (ETOR) and Coinbase’s (COIN) acquisition of derivatives exchange Deribit. While valuations in the public markets are rising – with some companies trading at 10-20 times revenue – pricing in the private market remains subdued.
Overhyped and underrated
Tapiero said he is skeptical of the tokenization narrative that has gained momentum in recent months.
While he believes in the long-term potential of tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), he said actual adoption has lagged behind the hype.
“There’s a lot of talk, but it’s still early days,” he said, pointing to firms like Securitize and Figure as early movers, but noting that “the reality is that it hasn’t really happened.”
On the other hand, decentralized finance (DeFi) has already exceeded 2021 levels, in his opinion, and remains a core area of interest despite usability challenges. Metaverse and blockchain gaming companies, on the other hand, remain “near the lows,” he said.
For now, Tapiero is focused on scaling investments in what he sees as the next infrastructure layer for a digitized economy — particularly where blockchain meets autonomous AI agents.
“I don’t even know who these companies are yet,” he said. “But I’m sure that’s where it’s going.”
