OG Crypto Investor SOLD HIS BITCOIN For AI
TL;DR
Former hedge fund manager Avi Felman explains why he divested his 80% crypto allocation after nearly a decade, arguing that Bitcoin's 'escape hatch' narrative has weakened as secular growth in AI, biotech, and defense shifts investor attention toward real-world innovation and revenue-generating fintech infrastructure.
🔄 Why He Sold Bitcoin 3 insights
Fed dependence is fading
Bitcoin's value as a hedge against central bank errors matters less when economic growth stems from genuine technological innovation rather than monetary policy.
Attention shifted to builders
Secular breakthroughs in robotics, AI, and space technology (like SpaceX) have captured investor mindshare, leaving crypto without a compelling near-term narrative.
Portfolio drag vs. opportunity cost
After holding up to 80% of his portfolio in crypto since 2017, Felman divested because Bitcoin currently acts as a drag compared to high-growth innovation stocks.
🏗️ Crypto's Infrastructure Phase 3 insights
The internet bubble parallel
Crypto is evolving from a standalone sector into backend infrastructure, similar to how 'internet companies' became simply 'companies' after the dot-com bust.
Revenue generation matters
Investable crypto projects now require actual cash flows, such as Hyperliquid, Cards, and Eric Voorhees's VVV, rather than purely speculative infrastructure tokens.
Tokenization thesis
Blockchain technology will dominate financial backends because it offers superior speed and simplicity for trading and settlement compared to traditional rails.
📊 Financialization & The Broken Contract 3 insights
Hyperliquid captures the trend
The platform benefits from retail traders financializing every asset class, from weather derivatives to Korean equities, in search of wealth acceleration.
Middle class wealth gap
With pensions obsolete and housing unaffordable, younger generations view high-risk trading as the only viable alternative to permanent underclass status.
Gambling normalization
Traditional exchanges are integrating prediction markets and gamification because the line between investing and betting has permanently blurred.
⚖️ Economic Bifurcation 2 insights
K-shaped recovery reality
Despite population growth, approximately 35 million Americans remain below the poverty line today—the same number as 20 years ago—while the middle class hollows out.
Political consequences
Downward mobility is driving socialist political shifts in major cities as younger voters abandon the traditional wealth-building social contract.
Bottom Line
Rotate capital from macro hedges like Bitcoin into secular growth sectors (AI, biotech, defense) and revenue-generating crypto infrastructure that captures the financialization of everything, recognizing that the 'escape hatch' narrative weakens when innovation—not monetary policy—drives progress.
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