Pantera founder interprets Solana DAT company's HSDT

On September 16, Dan Morehead, founder of Pantera Capital, shared his views on Solana, DAT, and the Solana DAT company HSDT on CNBC Squawk Box.

Andrew: “This morning, Pantera announced that the Solana digital asset treasury company HSDT will be listed on Nasdaq. Dan Morehead is the person behind all this. He is the founder and executive partner of Pantera. Please help explain what this is all about. I want to understand what you are doing and also want to understand the more macro phenomenon of these treasury companies, and how we, the public and investors, should view them.”

Dan: “For 12 years, Pantera has been working to provide blockchain investment channels, but typically only for institutional investors. This is our first product that can be directly purchased using a brokerage account. It allows ordinary investors to invest in cryptocurrencies. And so far, Solana doesn't even have an ETF, making it difficult for ordinary investors to access Solana.”

Andrew: “Is this a leveraged fund?”

Dan: “No, this is just a way to own Solana and earn profits without leverage. In fact, this is a very simple company.”

Andrew: “As time goes by, more and more people will have access to physical cryptocurrencies. How do you think this will change the dynamics between fund management companies and ETFs? I think one big issue is that people can buy Bitcoin directly through Coinbase or other means, or they can purchase Solana, or now even buy it through treasury companies. How do you think this combination will evolve over time?”

Dan: “This is an evolving process. We launched the world's first Bitcoin fund. That was the simplest way to get it at the time. Now ETFs are very easy—you don't need a wallet, and you don't have to do all these complicated things. All major currencies will go through such an evolution. Just like Solana now, there is no ETF. It's hard to acquire. Most people don't have a Coinbase wallet. So for those with brokerage accounts, that's the easiest way to get it.”

Andrew: “How do you view the comparison between Ethereum and Solana now?”

Dan: “Over time, many important blockchains will emerge. Solana is the fastest, lowest cost, and highest performance. Therefore, its performance over the past four years has even surpassed that of Bitcoin. That is why we want to give ordinary investors the opportunity to access some lesser-known but actually outstanding projects.”

Andrew: “Do you think one will be better than the other? They have different uses. Is it winner takes all? What do you think?”

Dan: “There are no winners take all on the internet. We have many different internet companies. In the future, there will be many important blockchains, but our largest position is in Solana. We have an investment of 1.1 billion dollars in Solana on our books.”

Andrew: “But how many different protocols do you think there will be in the long term? Yes, there are many companies, but there aren't many protocols on the internet.”

Dan: “I think the number of Layer 1s is only in the single digits. There aren't thousands of them like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, but it's definitely not just one.”

Andrew: “So, have you seen anything that made you think 'this technology is actually better'?”

Dan: “Currently, Solana is our largest position. We used to hold a large position in Ethereum as well. We were once 100% Bitcoin holders, and something new may emerge tomorrow.”

Andrew: “Is there anything you're interested in? The reason I ask this question is that I hope Solana was born many years ago. Ethereum was born many years ago. Bitcoin was also born many, many years ago. I hope that since then, the technology and the technologists have found better solutions.”

Dan: “Solana can handle 9 billion transactions per day, which is more than the total of all capital markets combined. So, you don't need to develop anything else after Solana.”

Andrew: “So you think this is not important.”

Dan: “There may be other use cases, such as Ripple pursuing Swift after Bitcoin's digital gold. While there are several different major use cases, Solana stands out as a high-performance blockchain.”

Andrew: “Is all of this related to staking?”

Dan: “Yes, the yield on Solana is typically around 7%. One more thing, a typical investor who buys $10,000 worth of Solana may not know how to stake it. Our digital asset treasury company can help them with that.”

Andrew: “Explain to the public how it works.”

Dan: “Staking is quite troublesome. You have to find a staking company and pay all the fees. So it's really quite a hassle. Although some people can do it themselves, it's still a hassle. That's why most people don't do it.”

Andrew: “When you see the current price of Bitcoin, since you started from there, what do you think it will eventually drop to, and what do you think the current window period is?”

Dan: “I said it long ago. We have been doing this for 12 years, roughly doubling every year. So I believe this situation will continue at least for the next few years. Its proportion in global wealth is still very low, only in single digits, so I think it could rise to $750,000 in the next four or five years.”

Andrew: “So you don't belong to the millionaire camp anymore?”

Dan: “It's not in the next four or five years, but in our lifetime, it can reach a million dollars.”

Andrew: “So where do you stand on Ethereum and Solana?”

Dan: “So I think the market value of Solana is only one-twentieth of Bitcoin. Therefore, I believe that over time, its performance will be better, and I think our current view is that its performance outperforms Ethereum.”