We ask the builders in the blockchain and cryptocurrency sector for their thoughts on the industry… and throw in a few random zingers to keep them on their toes!
This week, our 6 questions go to Joe DiPasquale, CEO of BitBull Capital – a company that manages a bundle of crypto hedge funds and has access to closed and exclusive funds.
Joe Di Pasquale is CEO of BitBull Capital, which has been managing crypto hedge funds since 2017. Joe founded BitBull because he believes in active management of crypto investments. He has been an investor for 10 different crypto hedge funds and has been running his own active strategies since 2013.
Before that, Joe worked in investment management, investment banking, technology and strategy consulting at Deutsche Bank, Bain and McKinsey. He received his BA from Harvard University and MBA from Stanford University. BitBull also runs BitBull Research, which regularly publishes its “Crypto Investing Newsletter”, available with a free subscription on the BitBull website, as well as its “Opportunistic Deals Memo”, available only to investors.
Contents
1 — What is a problem that you think blockchain has a chance to solve, but has not yet been tried?
Most of the problems that will be solved by blockchain are not yet solved. Andreessen Horowitz’s Ben Horowitz has said it’s similar to the App Store that came out on iPhones in 2008 — we couldn’t think of apps like Uber or Pokemon Go or others, but the technology was made. With blockchain, we see its use in cryptocurrencies, DeFi, NFTs and the Metaverse, and even traditional finance, but most of the developments are yet to come.
2 — What kind of consolidation do you expect to see in the crypto industry in 2022?
I don’t believe 2022 will be a year of consolidation; rather, it will be a year of continuous improvement in protocols, from Eth2 to several others, such as Solana, Polkadot, Avalanche and more. While consolidation is inevitable, we are still in the early stages of development and expansion. This is a time for the creation and diversity of technologies.
3 — Which countries are doing the most to support blockchain, and which are lagging behind?
It will certainly be interesting to hear Biden’s planned execution order around crypto, but El Salvador has done the most to support blockchain and crypto. It was the first country to officially classify Bitcoin as legal currency. There are other countries, such as Japan and Switzerland, where blockchain development is promoted and encouraged. And while it is a territory, not a country, Puerto Rico is quickly becoming a hotbed of blockchain and crypto activity.
4 — When you tell people you’re in the blockchain industry, how do they react?
It depends on how you phrase it. When I tell people about our positive returns during many down periods in crypto, such as the beginning of 2022, or about getting 15%-20% APY on stablecoins versus 0.1% with a bank account, they are interested. When you just tell people that you run a “crypto hedge fund”, they tend not to understand how it is different from buying and holding Bitcoin.
5 — Who do you think makes sense and who makes no sense at all?
One of the most important things about investing is that you can incorporate information from a variety of sources, including — and most importantly — sources you disagree with. If people don’t understand me, I try to listen twice as hard. On the other hand, what I like about investing and running hedge funds is that we are measured very quantitatively and our results are available for everyone to see on a monthly basis.
6 – Name the things you own that you will never part with.
I spend most of my time working, so my desk setup is specific to me and built over time to be comfortable and efficient, including my second monitor and the ability to sit or stand. There are also certain things that I’ve gotten over the years, like an artistic Bitcoin representation of a meeting in Japan, which I also hang on my wall and love.
