MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — Dan Tapiello, founder of crypto-focused growth equity fund 10T Holdings, is betting that artificial intelligence and blockchain technology will converge in ways the market hasn’t yet priced in.
“Blockchain is AI money,” Tapiello said in an interview with CoinDesk. “If you imagine thousands of AI agents acting independently, they won’t be sending wires from JPMorgan. They’ll all be smart contracts embedded in the blockchain.”
Tapiello said he expects about 20% of 10T’s next fund (currently raising until early 2026) to be invested in companies operating at the intersection of AI and blockchain. He acknowledged that these companies “don’t even exist yet” on a growth scale, but said he believes “in the next five years it will become a real category.”
Tapiello also shared his bullish but cautious view on the trajectory of the crypto market. He said he has the same goals for Bitcoin. BTC$101,307.41 From early 2023: $180,000. First, he expects assets to stabilize at around $100,000, a level he says has long served as a psychological anchor for Bitcoin investors and whales.
“The market is moving toward round numbers. It’s ridiculous, but it’s reality,” he said. “And in crypto, $100,000 has been a goal for a long time. If we maintain that a little bit, I think we’ll probably be on our way to $180,000 by next summer.”
Bitcoin has traded between $101,000 and $124,000 for the past six months, and is currently hovering around $103,000.
While some traders are growing impatient with Bitcoin’s stagnant price movement, Tapiello cautioned against short-term thinking. “This is the most difficult market I’ve ever tried to trade,” he said of his 25 years in traditional markets. “It’s almost impossible to take a short-term view here.”
Undervalued growth-stage companies
Tapiello said his firm, which manages $2 billion in assets and has invested in 24 companies, is seeing some of the best opportunities in history. Competition for growth-stage crypto companies with revenues of $50 million to $100 million has been minimal, as many traditional investors remain wary after high-profile bankruptcies like FTX and Celsius.
“We’re the only growth equity fund in the world that focuses solely on cryptocurrencies. We don’t do seed or venture business, and we’re the ones making the pricing decisions right now,” he said.
10T has had six exits this year, including the IPOs of Circle (CRCL), Gemini (GEMI), eToro (ETOR), and the acquisition of derivatives exchange Deribit by Coinbase (COIN). While public market valuations are rising, with some companies trading at 10 to 20 times earnings, private market prices remain subdued.
overrated and underrated
Tapiello said he is skeptical of the tokenization talk that has gained momentum in recent months.
Although he believes in the long-term potential of tokenized real-world assets (RWA), he said actual adoption has been slower than the hype.
“There’s a lot of talk, but it’s still too early,” he said, pointing to companies like Securitize and Figure as pioneers, but “the reality is, that’s not really happening.”
However, he sees decentralized finance (DeFi) as having already surpassed 2021 levels and remains a core area of interest despite usability challenges. In contrast, Metaverse and blockchain gaming companies are still “around the lows,” he said.
For now, Tapiello is focused on expanding investments in the next infrastructure layer of the digitized economy, particularly where blockchain and autonomous AI agents meet.
“We still don’t know who those companies are,” he says. “But I’m confident this is where this issue is headed.”
