Dragonfly's Haseeb Qureshi: The Biggest Digital Assets Bull Market Has Started (Here's How I’m Positioned)
Dragonfly's Haseeb Qureshi: The Biggest Digital Assets Bull Market Has Started (Here's How I’m Positioned)
Podcast29 min 36 sec
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Note: AI-generated summary based on third-party content. Not financial advice. Read more.
Quick Insights
  • Hyperliquid (HYPE) is the clearest on-chain perps opportunity discussed; track its volume and open-interest share versus Binance, plus growth in real-world-asset trading, before acting, as no price target was provided.
  • Lighter and Variational offer higher-risk exposure to the same growth theme; consider them only if they demonstrate durable liquidity, user growth, and meaningful market share.
  • Over the next year, monitor on-chain perps activity in traditional assets such as oil, gold, and stocks; the opportunity depends on real trading volume, not just new listings.
  • Treat prediction markets, tokenized assets, and other mentioned names as watchlist themes: regulatory, liquidity, and product risks remain substantial, and the discussion supplied no actionable price targets.
Detailed Analysis

On-chain Perpetual Exchanges

  • The investor sees substantial room for on-chain perpetual futures (“perps”) to grow. He argues that better speed and usability have made these venues more practical, and that they may take trading activity from centralized exchanges and, eventually, traditional brokerages.
  • He sees growth beyond crypto as important: he said more than 50% of Hyperliquid’s volume was in real-world assets (RWAs) at the time of the discussion. Trading assets such as oil, gold, and individual stocks on-chain is still small compared with traditional markets.
  • The thesis depends on continued product improvements, liquidity, user awareness, and the ability to attract trading volume. The speaker expects perps to grow faster than tokenized long-term investments over roughly the next year, while suggesting that tokenization could become more important over a longer horizon.

Takeaways

  • Track on-chain trading volume and open interest, especially whether RWA activity grows beyond crypto-native users.
  • The opportunity is tied to both market-share gains from existing exchanges and expansion into larger traditional markets; neither outcome is assured.

Hyperliquid (HYPE)

  • The investor said his firm owns Hyperliquid and described it as the platform that demonstrated the level of speed, performance, and user experience needed for on-chain perps to gain traction.
  • He said Hyperliquid’s volume and open interest had been increasing, and that its volume had become a meaningful portion of Binance’s. He characterized its relative progress against Binance as a “one-way ratchet,” while noting that both venues’ activity can fall when crypto volatility and trading decline.
  • He cited an approximate $80–90 billion fully diluted valuation (FDV) for Hyperliquid at the time of the discussion. He did not offer a fair-value estimate or price target.

Takeaways

  • Monitor Hyperliquid’s share of Binance’s activity, as well as its RWA volume, liquidity, and open interest.
  • The growth case depends on continued market-share gains and expansion beyond crypto trading; the speaker did not quantify how much of that potential was reflected in the valuation.

Lighter

  • The investor said his firm invested in Lighter early. He described it as a competing on-chain perp venue and said it had a different route to market, including U.S. go-to-market opportunities and product development.
  • He cited a roughly $4–5 billion FDV for Lighter at the time of the discussion. He said its valuation was around 4–5% of Hyperliquid’s, using his comparison at the time.
  • The discussion framed Lighter as a higher-risk opportunity than the largest platforms: it would need to win users and volume from competitors for the investment thesis to play out.

Takeaways

  • Watch for evidence that Lighter can build durable liquidity, attract users, and gain market share—not just benefit from enthusiasm for the broader perp sector.
  • The speaker’s valuation comparison is a snapshot, not a price target or assurance that Lighter will close the gap with Hyperliquid.

Variational

  • The investor said his firm invested in Variational before its token generation event (TGE). He highlighted its request-for-quote (RFQ) approach and a swaps product intended to offer deeper liquidity for RWAs than approaches relying on conventional oracles.
  • He estimated its valuation at roughly $1–2 billion, depending on the points-market pricing used. He described it as around 1–2% of Hyperliquid’s market size in his comparison.
  • The TGE date was discussed as newly announced, but no specific date or token ticker was given in the transcript.

Takeaways

  • Assess whether Variational’s RFQ model delivers meaningfully better liquidity and execution as RWA trading grows.
  • The project is an early-stage competitor, so its ability to turn a differentiated product into sustained adoption remains central to the thesis.

dYdX (DYDX) and DerivDex

  • The investor said his firm backed dYdX and DerivDex, along with other early attempts to build on-chain perp exchanges. He said those early products struggled with usability, latency, and performance before Hyperliquid showed that the experience could work.
  • The remarks were historical; no current investment view, valuation, or recommendation for either project was given.

Takeaways

  • The discussion highlights how execution quality and user experience can determine whether an on-chain trading product gains traction.
  • The transcript does not provide enough current information to draw a specific investment conclusion about either project.

Prediction Markets: Kalshi and Polymarket

  • The investor said his firm invested in Polymarket before the 2024 U.S. election and described prediction markets as a growth area.
  • He called the wash-trading allegations involving Kalshi embarrassing and said the ratio of open interest to trading volume looked unusually lopsided. He also noted that the relevant data was publicly accessible and said this was not the main source of Kalshi’s business.
  • He described the legal dispute between prediction markets and states as a major uncertainty. In his view, states are seeking licensing and tax authority, while the companies and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) argue that these markets fall under federal oversight. He expected the dispute could ultimately reach the Supreme Court and speculated that the outcome might divide authority between federal and state regulators.
  • He said negative public attention and aggressive advertising could be a challenge as the companies grow. Potential state-by-state licensing and tax obligations are also relevant risks.

Takeaways

  • For this sector, monitor legal decisions, regulatory requirements, and whether trading activity appears organic and sustainable.
  • The investor remains interested in the category, but the transcript makes clear that regulatory and reputational risks could affect the businesses.

Tokenization and Real-World Assets

  • The investor sees tokenization as a substantial long-term opportunity, especially if people eventually use on-chain services to hold diversified investments such as stocks and bonds.
  • He distinguished tokenized assets from perps: tokenization may matter more to people holding investments over the long term, while perps are more suited to short-term trading and leverage.
  • He said tokenized assets can be hurt by fragmented liquidity: investors may care about holding the most liquid version of an asset. He also noted that “real” tokenization can involve KYC and additional regulatory requirements. Some products instead provide economic exposure without ownership or governance rights.
  • He viewed on-chain trading of traditional assets as an early opportunity, but expected perps to be closer to the existing crypto user base in the near term.

Takeaways

  • Evaluate what a token actually represents: ownership, governance rights, redemption rights, or only economic exposure.
  • Liquidity, regulatory treatment, and the ability to avoid fragmented markets are important factors to monitor.

Ondo (ONDO) and BlackRock (BLK)

  • Ondo and BlackRock were mentioned in connection with an announcement about “intelligent portfolios.” The host compared the offering to a vault, while the investor declined to comment on the details, saying he did not know enough about how it was structured.
  • More broadly, the investor argued that tokenized assets may benefit from economies of scale because liquidity fragmentation matters to investors.

Takeaways

  • The discussion did not establish a specific view on the Ondo–BlackRock offering. Examine its structure, underlying assets, liquidity, and investor rights before drawing conclusions.

Vaults

  • The investor acknowledged clear product-market fit and demand for vaults, but said he was less bullish on vault platforms than on several other crypto investment themes.
  • His concern was that vaults may be difficult to defend as businesses: if two vaults offer the same underlying strategy and redemption terms, investors may choose based on price. He suggested that issuers, rather than vault platforms, could capture more of the value.

Takeaways

  • Demand for a product does not necessarily mean the platform offering it has a durable competitive advantage.
  • Compare fees, underlying strategies, redemption terms, and the platform’s ability to attract and retain users.

Venice AI (VVV)

  • The investor said his firm recently led a funding round in Venice AI and noted that VVV had performed strongly over the prior month. He mentioned crypto and AI as an area of interest but did not provide a valuation, price target, or detailed investment thesis.

Takeaways

  • The transcript offers limited information for assessing VVV beyond the firm’s investment and recent price strength.
  • Treat the reported recent performance as context, not as evidence by itself of future returns.

NEAR Protocol (NEAR)

  • The investor said his firm is invested in NEAR and linked it to the broader account-abstraction theme: making it easier for users to manage activity across different blockchains and trading venues.
  • He described NEAR as approaching this usability problem from a different angle than FOMO, with the goal of providing a more unified experience for on-chain financial activity.

Takeaways

  • Monitor whether NEAR’s approach meaningfully reduces the complexity of using multiple chains and financial services.
  • The opportunity depends on adoption of the product and whether it can deliver a convenient experience across different on-chain activities.

Zcash (ZEC)

  • The investor said his firm is invested in Zcash and described himself as a personal investor in a Zcash wallet. He connected Zcash’s resurgence to renewed interest in privacy as crypto becomes more institutionalized.
  • He framed privacy as a continuing part of crypto’s appeal, alongside the increasing visibility and institutional participation in the sector.

Takeaways

  • The discussion points to privacy as an investment theme, but does not provide a price target or a detailed view on Zcash’s valuation.
  • Monitor whether demand for privacy-focused tools grows alongside broader institutional adoption.

FOMO

  • FOMO was cited as an example of an app that has gained traction by making crypto activity easier to access. The investor compared NEAR’s effort to address account abstraction from a different direction.
  • He said FOMO did not support certain activities, such as buying Zcash or conducting shielded transactions, in the way he was discussing.

Takeaways

  • The example reinforces usability as a competitive factor for crypto apps and infrastructure.
  • The transcript does not provide a ticker, valuation, or explicit investment recommendation for FOMO.

Robinhood Markets (HOOD)

  • Robinhood was mentioned in connection with an upcoming trading-tools unveiling and a public push around tokenized assets, perps, and stablecoins. The host described its CEO as a prominent advocate for these areas.
  • No stock valuation, price target, or specific view on Robinhood shares was offered.

Takeaways

  • Robinhood’s involvement is relevant as a sign of mainstream financial platforms engaging with crypto-related products.
  • The transcript does not provide enough information to assess HOOD as a stock investment.

Binance

  • Binance was used as a benchmark for on-chain perp growth. The investor said Hyperliquid had become a meaningful portion of Binance’s volume and suggested that the relative volume trend was worth watching.
  • He also said overall activity at both platforms can fall when crypto volatility and trading volumes decline.

Takeaways

  • Binance’s activity provides a useful comparison point for assessing whether on-chain venues are taking share.
  • The discussion does not offer an investment valuation or recommendation for Binance.

Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH)

  • Bitcoin and ETH were mentioned as large crypto assets whose trading volumes on Hyperliquid had become significant relative to Binance, unlike the smaller RWA markets discussed.
  • ETH was also raised in a general comparison about how investors value major crypto assets; no valuation model or price target was endorsed.

Takeaways

  • The relevant insight is about relative trading activity on centralized and on-chain venues, not a specific directional view on BTC or ETH.
  • No price target or standalone investment recommendation was provided.

AMC Entertainment (AMC) and SK Hynix (000660.KS)

  • AMC was cited as an example of a public company whose stock had been tokenized, reportedly prompting objections from its CEO. The host recalled a claim that 2% of AMC-related volume was occurring on-chain; the transcript did not verify the figure.
  • SK Hynix was mentioned as another example of a stock being traded through an on-chain venue. The investor said these RWA markets remained small compared with trading in Bitcoin and ETH and with traditional markets.

Takeaways

  • These examples illustrate potential on-chain stock trading, but the discussion does not establish that the tokenized products represent direct stock ownership.
  • Check the rights, liquidity, and regulatory status of any tokenized stock exposure. No stock-specific investment view was given for AMC or SK Hynix.

Stablecoins

  • The investor described stablecoins as an existing way for people, particularly in emerging markets, to access dollar exposure through fintech services.
  • He suggested that over time these same services could allow users to invest in diversified portfolios of stocks and bonds on-chain, though he expected that behavior to take longer to develop than growth in perps.

Takeaways

  • The opportunity discussed is broader access to dollar-based financial services and, eventually, investment products.
  • The transcript does not name a specific stablecoin or provide a token-level investment recommendation.

Gold, WTI Oil, and Traditional Market Venues

  • Gold and WTI oil were examples of assets beginning to trade on-chain; the investor said those markets were still small relative to their overall markets.
  • The discussion also referenced the New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq, CME, and Interactive Brokers as benchmarks for the much larger traditional trading markets that on-chain platforms may seek to serve.

Takeaways

  • The potential opportunity lies in whether on-chain venues can attract meaningful activity in traditional assets, not simply in adding more assets to a platform.
  • Monitor actual liquidity and trading volume against established venues; the transcript describes these markets as early-stage and small relative to traditional markets.
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Episode Description
Haseeb Qureshi joins to catch us up on his portfolio, why he's extremely bullish on perps, tokenization, and prediction markets. He explains how more than half of Hyperliquid's volume is already real-world assets, which means the competitor isn't Coinbase, it's ICE and the Nasdaq, and the addressable market is enormous by comparison. He ranks the big categories Dragonfly is allocating $4 billion across, calls vaults the weakest of them on defensibility, and explains why perps beat tokenization over the next year even if that reverses in five. He also breaks down why every state attorney general is suing prediction markets, and why this ends as a Supreme Court vote. Haseeb Qureshi is a Managing Partner at Dragonfly, a digital assets venture capital firm. The Rollup is where the leaders of digital assets and finance converge. Live from the financial capital of the world. Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 02:21 Perps Are Still Only 1% Of Derivatives Mkt 04:17 Hyperliquid Is Trying To Be The Nasdaq 06:13 RWA Volume Already 50% Of Hyperliquid 08:27 Hyperliquid Cracked The UX Code First 10:33 Variational RFQ Model Vs Order Book 12:44 Polymarket Vs Kalshi Supreme Court Battle 16:00 Prediction Markets Advertising Blitz Explained 18:14 Kalshi Suing States To Get To Supreme Court 20:43 NEAR Account Abstraction For Every Chain 22:57 Zcash Is The Rebel Response To Bitcoin ETFs 24:59 Prediction Market Growth Curve Not Over Yet 27:23 Wash Trading On Kalshi CFTC Investigation 28:13 Haseeb Personal Investor In Zcash Wallet 29:19 Make Money Then Hide In Privacy Guest Socials: Haseeb X: https://x.com/hosseeb Dragonfly X: https://x.com/dragonfly_xyz Dragonfly Website: https://www.dragonfly.xyz/ Partners: If you run concentrated liquidity positions you know the grind. Price moves, you're out of range, you're rebalancing at, like, 3am. 1inch Aqua lets you take a different approach. You can stack multiple positions on the same token balance instead of babysitting a dozen pools, and your tokens never leave your wallet. Your liquidity stays awake, so you can catch up on your sleep. Check it out at https://1inch.com/aqua --- Dinari - Over 230 1:1 backed tokenized stocks, ETFs & more with dividends. US-based SEC transfer agent. Available on 5+ chains & via API. https://dinari.com/ --- Space and Time is providing verifiable data infrastructure for onchain finance. A decentralized database, blockchain indexer, and ZK coprocessor in one, giving DeFi protocols,stablecoins, and tokenized assets accurate, provable data. --- Zama is an open source cryptography company that builds state-of-the-art Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) solutions for blockchain. Learn more here: https://www.zama.org/ --- 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝘂𝘀 𝗯𝘆 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀: Website: https://therollup.co/ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1P6ZeYd... Podcast: https://therollup.co/category/podcast Follow us on X: https://www.x.com/therollupco Follow Rob on X: https://x.com/robbieklages Follow Andy on X: https://x.com/andyyy Join our TG group: https://t.me/+TsM1CRpWFgk1NGZh The Rollup Disclosures: https://goodidea.ventures 𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗜𝗠𝗘𝗥: 𝘐𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘳𝘺𝘱𝘵𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘋𝘦𝘍𝘪 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘯𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬, 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳, 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘈𝘵 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘭, 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱, 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳. 𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮, 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦. 𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘴.
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