"I earn $100 for each meeting, just to persuade people to buy Bitcoin."

Written by: Leo Schwartz, Fortune Magazine

Translated by: Luffy, Foresight News

Dan Morehead, Founder of Pantera Capital

In 2016, Dan Morehead embarked on a global tour to spread the "gospel" of Bitcoin. The former Goldman Sachs and Tiger Management trader was "completely conquered" by Bitcoin years ago and firmly believes it will reshape the global economy. His faith in this currency is so strong that he even came out of semi-retirement to transform his hedge fund, Pantera Capital, into one of the world's first Bitcoin funds.

This new venture launched in 2013 with rapid initial momentum, supported by two Princeton alumni, Pete Briger and Mike Novogratz, both from the private equity giant Fortress Investment Group. The three watched in delight as Bitcoin, purchased by Pantera at an initial price of $65, soared to over $1,000 by the end of the year. But then disaster struck when hackers raided the major exchange Mt. Gox, causing Bitcoin's price to plummet by 85%. "People would say, 'Aren't you doing that Bitcoin thing that's already dead?'" Morehead recalled. "It's still alive!" he would always respond.

During that Bitcoin promotional tour in 2016, Morehead arranged 170 meetings. Each time he entered a potential investor's office, he would spend an hour arguing why this new asset was the most enticing opportunity. The result: he raised only $1 million for the struggling fund. Worse still, Morehead's own speaking fees totaled about $17,000. "I earn $100 for each meeting, just to persuade people to buy Bitcoin," he told Fortune.

Less than a decade later, as Bitcoin's price approaches $120,000, Morehead's early struggles have become part of the founder's myth — comparable to Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak tinkering in Jobs' parents' garage or Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger exchanging stock tips at an Omaha dinner.

Today, Pantera manages over $4 billion in various crypto funds, with holdings including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and investments in projects like Circle (which went public in June) and Bitstamp (acquired by Robinhood for $200 million earlier this year). But in the fiercely competitive crypto venture capital space, the company's uniqueness lies in its "pioneer" status: it is a well-known bridge between the conservative traditional finance world and the once-rebellious crypto industry. And the key figure, Morehead, is a low-key doer in an industry filled with legendary figures.

"I am stubborn and completely believe (Bitcoin) will change the world," Morehead told Fortune, "so I have kept at it."

The Wild Journey of Bitcoin

Bitcoin price trends since 2013. Data source: CoinGecko

The Princeton "Gang"

In an era when Wall Street had yet to penetrate the blockchain industry, Morehead seemed out of place in the chaotic world of early cryptocurrencies. He was a dual-sport athlete at Princeton University (football and heavyweight rowing) and still retains the broad shoulders and square jawline of his youth. This is in stark contrast to those skinny, eccentric individuals who spend all day on online forums. Instead, Morehead comes from traditional finance, and he still prefers to wear a suit jacket.

Before encountering Bitcoin, Morehead had a long trading career. After working at Goldman Sachs and Tiger Fund, he founded his own hedge fund, Pantera, which collapsed during the 2008 financial crisis. Around that time, a mysterious figure named Satoshi Nakamoto published a white paper online, introducing Bitcoin to the world.

In 2011, Morehead first heard about Bitcoin from his brother and vaguely knew that his Princeton classmate Gavin Andresen was running a website where users could earn 5 Bitcoins (currently worth about $575,000) by solving captchas. However, he didn't pay much attention until a few years later when another classmate, Briger, invited him to the Fortress Investment Group's San Francisco office to discuss cryptocurrencies, with Novogratz joining remotely. "From that point on, I was hooked on Bitcoin," Morehead said.

The tech world is known for its so-called "gangs," such as the PayPal gang, which later dominated the next generation of startups. In the crypto space, the "gang" does not come from a company but from a university: Princeton has birthed some of the most influential projects in the industry. Briger and Novogratz are both key supporters of Pantera, and Morehead even moved into the spare space at Fortress Investment's San Francisco office. Briger still maintains a behind-the-scenes influence in the crypto space, recently joining the board of Michael Saylor's $100 billion Bitcoin holding company, Strategy. Novogratz founded Galaxy, becoming one of the largest crypto conglomerates. Another classmate, Joe Lubin, later became a co-founder of Ethereum.

However, in 2013, it still sounded absurd for Ivy League graduates active in high-end fields like private equity and macro trading to be interested in Bitcoin. Briger told Fortune that he first heard about Bitcoin from Argentine entrepreneur and early crypto enthusiast Wences Casares when they shared a room at a Young Presidents' Organization gathering in the San Juan Islands. Briger quickly saw the potential to disrupt the global payment system, a belief he still holds, even though he thinks Bitcoin is still in its infancy. He said the prospects for Bitcoin are comparable to the internet, which facilitated a new form of information dissemination. "It's a shame that the flow of funds hasn't kept up," he said.

After sharing this idea with Novogratz, they believed Morehead, with his experience in the foreign exchange market, was the right person to steer the ship. When Morehead decided to devote the rest of his financial career to the crypto space, he repositioned Pantera as a Bitcoin fund, opening it to outside investors. Briger and Novogratz both joined as limited partners, while Fortress Investment, venture capital firm Benchmark, and Ribbit joined as general partners (later exiting). His mentor at Tiger Fund, legendary investor Julian Robertson, also invested in a subsequent fund.

The Rebirth of Pantera

In the early days of the cryptocurrency frenzy, entrepreneurs had to face extreme market volatility, which pales in comparison to today's fluctuations. But Novogratz recalls, the biggest trouble was not the price rollercoaster, but the fact that Bitcoin was simply unavailable.

He once approached Coinbase, which had only been established for a year, wanting to buy 30,000 Bitcoins, then worth about $2 million. Instead, a window popped up indicating his limit was $50. After discussing with Coinbase's first employee, who later became a well-known figure in the crypto world, Olaf Carlson-Wee, Coinbase agreed to raise his limit to $300.

However, perhaps Morehead's most admirable achievement was persevering through the downturn from 2013 to 2016. During that time, Bitcoin's price stagnated, and no one outside the closed blockchain circle paid attention to it. "During those quiet years in crypto, Dan was out there hustling," Novogratz told Fortune.

That era also had its highlights, including three annual meetings held at Morehead's home in Lake Tahoe. At one of them, Kraken founder Jesse Powell chose to drive instead of taking the private jet Morehead had chartered. "There were quite a few people from the Bitcoin community on the plane, and he was worried that if the plane crashed, Bitcoin would be done for," Morehead recalled.

Unlike many of his peers, Morehead never positioned himself as a "Bitcoin maximalist" (someone who believes no other cryptocurrencies should exist). After buying 2% of the global Bitcoin supply, Pantera became an early investor in Ripple Labs, which issued the digital currency XRP. "My thought is that Bitcoin is clearly the most important," Morehead said, "but there isn't just one internet company."

According to Morehead, 86% of Pantera's venture projects have turned a profit. Given that the vast majority of venture-backed startups fail, this figure is astonishing. The crypto space may be more forgiving, as many projects hold cryptocurrencies, meaning that even if a startup's product fails, the investment value often persists.

Morehead now spends half of his time each year in Puerto Rico, which has become a crypto hotspot. At the time, Pantera's partner, now at Peter Thiel's Founders Fund, Joey Krug, had moved there, and Morehead decided to relocate as well. He estimates there are about 1,000 blockchain entrepreneurs on the island, though they are scrutinized for driving up real estate prices. Morehead was investigated by the Senate Finance Committee, questioned about whether he violated federal tax laws by moving to the island and obtaining over $850 million in capital gains from Pantera. He told The New York Times earlier this year that he believes he is "behaving properly in terms of taxes," but declined to comment further to Fortune.

The Future of Bitcoin

Morehead admits that the crypto industry is rife with gambling behavior, and Pantera does not engage in meme coins like many venture capital firms. But he believes this should not overshadow the grand goal of blockchain reshaping global finance. "It's ridiculous to want to take down the blockchain industry over a little side issue," he said, "the GameStop incident doesn't mean there's a problem with the entire U.S. stock market."

Pantera continues to expand, including raising its fifth venture fund with a target of $1 billion. Morehead stated that they will close fundraising after completing investments in the fourth fund later this year. Pantera has also ventured into the hot digital asset treasury space, where public companies incorporate cryptocurrencies into their balance sheets.

But Bitcoin remains at the core of Pantera's strategy. At the end of last year, its Bitcoin fund achieved a return of 1,000 times, with a cumulative return of over 130,000%. When asked about the future price of Bitcoin, Morehead's answer has always been the same: it will double within a year. This simple model has generally worked, although he admits that the growth momentum may be slowing. He believes Bitcoin will rise another order of magnitude, approaching $1 million, but this will be the last time it grows tenfold.

If Bitcoin never reaches that milestone, Morehead is willing to face criticism. After all, in 2016, he was still struggling to defend Bitcoin at $500. And less than a decade later, he is just getting started. "I believe that the vast majority of institutions' faith in Bitcoin is just beginning," he told Fortune, "we have decades to go."

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