Private Salon · Shanghai · 2ØY

Digital Assets:
the Evolution of an Asset Class

Understanding the evolution of digital assets and the new opportunities they create.

Dr. Ibai Basabe

2ØY · 20y.org

Welcome

A room for investors, entrepreneurs, and builders

This is not a pitch. It’s a conversation — about how technology is reshaping where value is created, and what that means for capital like yours.

Why we are here

Every generation faces a new category.

A century ago

Equities

Public ownership became the primary vehicle for wealth creation.

Mid-century

Venture capital

Structured access to early-stage innovation before it reached public markets.

Recent decades

Alternatives

Real assets, private credit, and hedge strategies expanded beyond traditional markets.

Today, the same shift is happening again — in how value is created, stored, and transferred.

Discussion

“When a new asset category appears — is it a trend, or a transformation?”

Fundamentals

What makes a new asset class?

Traditional

Familiar claims

Equities — ownership in companies.
Bonds — claims on future cash flows.
Commodities — physical scarcity.

vs

Digital

New properties

Digitally native ownership.
Global accessibility, 24/7.
Programmable financial systems.
New market structures.

The attraction

Why investors pay attention.

Global liquidity moving toward digitally native markets
Technological innovation compounding faster than regulation
Alternative stores of value, decoupled from any single economy
New financial infrastructure being built in the open
Market inefficiencies that still create genuine opportunity

In balance

The risks are real, too.

High volatility, larger and faster than most traditional assets
Regulatory uncertainty across jurisdictions
Technology risk — protocols, custody, execution
Market psychology that can overwhelm fundamentals
Liquidity risk, especially outside the largest assets

The key insight

The opportunity and the risk come from the same source.

This is still an emerging market. That is precisely why it rewards careful attention.

Part Two

How We Think
About Markets

Investing is not about predicting the future perfectly. It is about building a process that lets you adapt.

Our principles

Four things we hold constant.

01

Adaptability

Today’s best opportunity may not be tomorrow’s.

02

Risk management

Protect capital first. Avoid permanent loss. Size and liquidity matter.

03

Independent thinking

Opportunity appears when perception diverges from reality.

04

Active management

Continuously reassess conditions, opportunities, and narratives.

Market psychology

The cycle repeats every time.

01

Innovation

Few people understand it.

02

Early Adoption

Interest increases.

03

Speculation

Prices rise rapidly.

04

Excess

Disappointment, participants leave.

05

Recovery

Strong projects mature.

The key insight

The biggest opportunities appear when attention is lowest — not when everyone is talking about it.

Case Study

Bitcoin, 2018–2021

From an 80% collapse and a “crypto winter” to institutional balance sheets. A real cycle, in real time.

Bitcoin 2018–2021 · Part 1

Situation

After the 2017 mania, Bitcoin fell from roughly $20,000 to $3,200 by December 2018 — an 80%+ drawdown. Media coverage called it dead. Trading volumes and public interest collapsed.

Observation

Most participants read the price as the whole story. What they missed: developer activity, network hashrate, and core infrastructure kept growing through the downturn — the fundamentals hadn’t collapsed with the price.

Bitcoin 2018–2021 · Part 2

Decision

The signal wasn’t a price target. It was the divergence itself: attention at its lowest, building at its steadiest. That divergence is what disciplined investors track — not headlines.

Outcome

By late 2020 and through 2021, public companies and asset managers began adding Bitcoin to balance sheets and launching regulated investment products — capital that had been absent during the 2018 winter.

The lesson

Price tells you what happened. Fundamentals tell you what’s next.

This is not a call to buy any single asset today — it is a reminder of what to watch for the next time a category goes quiet.

Open floor

Let’s discuss.

Investment

How should investors size a position in an emerging asset class?

How do you tell innovation from speculation?

Markets

What actually drives a cycle’s turn?

Why do most investors buy at the wrong time?

Personal

What is a mistake that changed how you invest?

What would you tell yourself five years ago?

Thank You

Let’s build a
long-term community.

@IbaiBasabe

ibai@20y.org

20y.org

Today’s discussion is only the beginning of many more.

Digital Assets:the Evolution of an Asset Class