Dan Tapiero: “Blockchain Is the Money of AI” as 50T Bets on the Next Tech Convergence
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — Dan Tapiero, founder of digital asset investment firm 50T Holdings, believes the next major innovation cycle will be defined by the convergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain technology — and he’s positioning early.
“Blockchain is the money of AI,” Tapiero said in an interview with CoinDesk. “If you imagine thousands of autonomous AI agents operating on their own, they’re not going to send wires from JPMorgan. Their transactions will happen through smart contracts on blockchains.”
Tapiero said roughly 20% of 50T’s upcoming fund, which is currently raising capital through early 2026, will target startups working at the AI-blockchain intersection. While he acknowledged that many of these firms “don’t yet exist at growth scale,” he’s confident the sector will emerge over the next five years as “a real and investable category.”
Bitcoin: Long-Term Conviction Despite Range-Bound Action
Tapiero, who has managed institutional portfolios for over two decades, remains optimistic on Bitcoin’s long-term trajectory. His target remains $180,000, first set in 2023. In the near term, he expects Bitcoin to consolidate around the $100,000 level before its next breakout.
“Markets are drawn to round numbers — it’s psychological, but it’s real,” he said. “Once Bitcoin holds above $100K, I think we move toward $180K, maybe by mid-next year.”
Bitcoin has traded between $101,000 and $124,000 for six months and currently sits near $103,000. Tapiero cautioned traders against short-term speculation, calling the current environment “the hardest market I’ve ever tried to trade.”
Institutional Openings in Growth-Stage Crypto
With $2 billion in assets under management and 24 portfolio companies, 50T Holdings remains one of the few growth-equity firms exclusively focused on crypto. Tapiero said post-crisis caution from traditional investors has created rare opportunities among revenue-generating firms.
“We’re the only growth equity fund globally that’s 100% crypto,” he said. “We’re not doing seed or venture — we’re backing scalable businesses, and right now we’re setting the terms.”
This year, 50T recorded six successful exits, including IPOs for Circle (CRCL), Gemini (GEMI), and eToro (ETOR), along with Coinbase’s (COIN) acquisition of derivatives exchange Deribit. Tapiero noted that while public crypto valuations have expanded to 10–20x revenue, private market pricing remains “well below fair value.”
Tokenization Lags, DeFi Rebounds
Tapiero expressed skepticism about the tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs), calling it “promising but overhyped.” Despite significant industry attention, he said adoption remains limited. “There’s a lot of talk, but it hasn’t really happened,” he said, citing Securitize and Figure as examples of early but small-scale movers.
In contrast, decentralized finance (DeFi) is showing renewed strength, having already surpassed 2021 activity levels, according to Tapiero. However, he noted that metaverse and blockchain gaming companies are still near cyclical lows, offering future upside potential.
Betting on the AI-Blockchain Future
Tapiero sees the most transformative opportunities in AI-native companies built directly on blockchain infrastructure, which he believes will define the next phase of the digital economy.
“I don’t even know who those companies are yet,” he said. “But that’s where this is heading — toward autonomous AI systems that transact, operate, and build value entirely on-chain.”
