Anthony ‘Pomp’ Pompliano: Going All-In On Bitcoin & Backing Industry-Changing Companies!
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“Outsized returns come from doing something different than the crowd and being right. On top of that, it also requires somebody who has deep conviction in something and can go for long periods of time and appear to be wrong in public!”
Anthony Pompliano is an entrepreneur and investor who has built and sold numerous companies, managing a portfolio valued at more than $500 million in early-stage companies. His investments include Coinbase, eToro_Official, BlockFi, Airbnb, and MANY more.
He has a fantastic newsletter, podcast, and social platform all anchored by his 1M+ Twitter followers.
He is known for his extreme passion for bitcoin, serving as the unofficial face (and laser eyes) of the latest crypto boom. Pomp has pushed his chips all-in, allocating 90%+ of his portfolio to the asset!
You can learn more about Pomp at his website, where you’ll find his newsletter (great read), podcast, and more. I highly recommend throwing him a follow on Twitter as well!
Here are some notable moments from today’s episode:
His Entry into Bitcoin
“In December of 2018, I put 50% of my net worth into bitcoin, which luckily ended up being the bottom of that bear market. And then again, coming out of the COVID crisis, where there was that massive liquidity crisis and sell-off, I basically went from 50% to over 90% of my net worth into bitcoin.”
Why 2020 Was The Perfect Storm for Bitcoin (it was just so obvious in hindsight…)
“You have a fixed supply asset and demand is continuing to increase. Therefore, the price has to go up to accommodate everyone. I started to write about this idea of what I called rocket fuel for Bitcoin. That rocket fuel was in the latter half of 2019. You started to see signs of the late-stage economy: inverted yield curves, gyrations in the repo markets, a high number of CEOs leaving their jobs…there will be some event where the market will turn over…then central banks will have to step in, they will have to manipulate interest rates down and they will have to print money…
My thesis at the time was if they do that anywhere near that May 2020 Bitcoin halving, you’re gonna have a supply shock and a demand shock.”
On Disagreeing with Buffet and Munger
For context, both Buffet and Munger have been not just opposed, but personally offended by Bitcoin’s rise. This fun side-plot rose up again a few months back with Munger doing the below…
Pomp’s take?
“It was very much an analog world they had invested in, they were some of the best if not the best to do it. But we’re in a different world today, we’re in this digital economy. And so they completely missed the tech companies. And I think they’d be the first ones to say that… I joke all the time, I think Munger’s about 98 years old, I think Buffett’s 90. I don’t know anyone who goes to a 90-year-old and asks them for technology advice, right? It’s not a knock on them. It’s just, we shouldn’t expect that!”
The Bitcoin Supercycle and “Strong Hands” in On-Chain Metrics
“This supercycle idea, which is: This is not like the last couple of bull markets. Instead, it’s something that is even more positive or more bullish. And really, when you look at the on-chain metrics, it’s pretty incredible…60% to 80%, depending on who you ask, of Bitcoin hasn’t moved or won’t move. That includes March of 2020, where Bitcoin dropped 50% in a single day, and people didn’t sell!
When you start to look at that, you have to ask yourself, why? And it’s because they ultimately believe that Bitcoin is going to be the global reserve currency, they believe it’s that global store of value, and they see that any Bitcoin that they sell today, they’ll regret later!”
Pomp writes a lot about on-chain metrics/analysis in his newsletter — which I’m a big fan of!
Kidnapping Jack Mallers, Founder of Strike & Zap
“I just knew Jack was special. I met him and we joked that I kidnapped him! We met, recorded a podcast, and I said, Hey man, let’s go to dinner. He says, Well, I gotta go back to my hotel and get changed. And I was like, no problem. I’ll go with you! Then we went to dinner and then I said, Hey, man, you got to go to this party. And then we went to a party, and I just thought wow this kid is special!”
So what is Strike?
Strike is a really, really cool company that allows you to send money anywhere in the world instantly with no added fees. They harness the power of Bitcoin’s lightning network to accomplish this.
In Jack’s words, “Our mission is to secure financial freedom for all. We accomplish this by making the Bitcoin network easily accessible and usable, which we believe will ultimately result in the best financial experience in the world.”
This is a company WFT needs to dive into (and maybe get on the show).
What Pomp Needs in a Business
“I don’t care about the business, frankly, it’s all about the person. And the reason is the best people usually will pick the best markets. They’ll figure out how to build the best products. And so you just have to bet on talent. Jack is the perfect example….He was actually working on a different product…And now here we are, he’s got a business that’s valued at nine figures!”
“Barbell Investing” & Why He Doesn’t Own a Cent of ETH
“I want to hold the majority of my portfolio in the safest, most conservative asset in the industry, which is Bitcoin…then on occasion, I will make smaller investments into the highest risk assets that I can find. I’m looking for a 100x to 1,000x return. And so I can make a smaller allocation, but because of the asymmetry, it can become a pretty material amount!
When it comes to things like Ethereum or XRP…in my conservative bucket, I want the most conservative. I don’t want the second or third most conservative.”
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Pomp was fantastic in this episode —I’m glad we could finally get him on the platform. In the podcast, we dive deeper into the sections above and also cover:
- DeFi 101
- The excitement & hype in Miami (including some interesting stats about YC founder location)
- A fun rapid-fire round including the best decisions & investments he’s ever made
- And much more!
Listen on Apple | Spotify | Soundcloud
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Some quotes have been lightly edited for clarity
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Former Vanguard CEO & Chairman Bill McNabb: The Future of Finance, Leading in Crisis, & ESG
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Ryan Zauk
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Ryan Zauk is a recent graduate of the MBA program at The Wharton School, where he led the Wharton FinTech Podcast. He currently works with the US International Development Finance Corp looking at technology impact investments in developing markets. He has a passion for music, media, and all things FinTech. He will be joining Morgan Stanley in Menlo Park this summer.
You can reach him at rzauk@wharton.upenn.edu or on Twitter.
