MIAMI BEACH, Fla.-Dan Tapiero, founder of Crypto-Focus 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 the currency of AI,” Tapiero said in an interview with Coindesk. “If you just imagine having thousands of 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 the next 50T fund – currently raising capital through early 2026 – to invest in companies operating at the intersection of AI and Blockchain. While he acknowledged those companies “don’t exist yet” on the scale of growth, he said he’s confident that “in the next five years, that becomes a real category.”
Tapiero also shared a bullish but measured view on the trajectory of the crypto market. He said he holds the same target for Bitcoin From early 2023: $180,000. First, he expects the asset to converge 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 true,” he said. “And in crypto, $100k has been the target for a long time. When we hold that a little bit, I think we’ll go to $180k – maybe in the summer of next year.”
Bitcoin has been trading in the $101,000 to $124,000 range for the last six months and is currently stuck around $103,000.
While some traders have grown pessimistic about 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 the traditional market. “Trying to have a cursory look at it is almost impossible.”
Undervalued growth stage companies
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 after high-profile collapses like FTX and Celsius, there is little competition for growth-stage companies generating $50-100 million in revenue.
“We’re the only private equity fund in the world dedicated solely to crypto. We don’t do seed or venture. And now, we dictate pricing,” 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 derivatives. While valuations in public markets are climbing – with some companies trading at 10-20 times earnings – private market pricing remains subdued.
Overhyped and underappreciated
Tapiero said he is skeptical of the tokenization narrative that has picked up steam in recent months.
While he believes in the long-term potential of tokenized real-world assets (RWAS), he says actual adoption has lagged behind the hype.
“There’s a lot of talk, but it’s still early,” he said, pointing to companies like Secure and Figure as early movers, but noted that “the truth is, it hasn’t happened yet.”
On the other hand, decentralized finance (DEFI) has already exceeded the levels of 2021, in his view, and remains a major area of interest despite the challenges of usability. Metaverse and blockchain gaming companies, in contrast, remain “close to the lows,” he said.
Right now, Tapiero is focused on scaling investments in what he sees as the next layer of infrastructure for a digitized economy — specifically where blockchain meets autonomous AI agents.
“I don’t know who those companies are,” he said. “But I’m sure that’s where it’s going.”
