Chris Wang was featured in an article (12/22/21) by Business Insider writer Marley Jay.

A 20-year markets veteran converted from bitcoin skeptic to believer in 2021. He tells us what changed and why he thinks crypto might be like the internet in the late '90s.

Here are a few of Chris' quotes:

  • “When you have a parabolic move in anything, you just can't continue that type of pace,” he said. “Bitcoin back in 2017 was just a story. There was very little infrastructure built around it. So it was going to take many years to build that out.”
  • “This year is a turning point in cryptocurrency because you see a lot of the major financial players getting involved,” Wang said, pointing to Visa's plan to start a crypto advisory service and US Bank's new crypto-custody service for institutional investment managers. “I think that's going to start to allow new cases for what crypto can do.”
  • “Facebook didn't come into existence until 2004. Amazon Web Services was 2002, and then the iPhone was 2007. So, I mean, you're talking about a five- to 10-year period where you want a revolution, but it really is an evolutionary process,” he said. “I feel like that's where we are.”
  • “The institutional ownership is the next wave,” he said. “What happens when these institutions or sovereign-wealth funds start buying bitcoin?”
  • “The trend is higher, but you are going to have massive volatility,” Wang said. “You have to be a long-term holder of crypto and not be shaken out of some of these bigger price declines.”
  • “I feel like we're going to get a buying opportunity next year where crypto might come in 40% to 50%.”

Read the full article

Coinbase recently showed the above chart comparing internet versus crypto adoption. This shows that the crypto adoption curve over its first decade is mirroring that of Internet adoption over a similar time beginning in the late 90s.

If crypto does follow the path of Internet adoption, we are in the very early innings and the investment opportunity can be tremendous. I entered the investment business in 1997 and remember the hype around Internet companies going public. Wall Street's thesis that Internet companies would have a profound impact on brick and mortar businesses was absolutely correct but it took another 10+ years to play out. In the meantime, there was the Internet bubble and crash in 1999/2000; and Facebook was just starting in a Harvard dorm room in 2004.

Feature image from Unsplash