Is The AI Bubble About to Pop?

Watch on YouTube ↗  |  June 18, 2026 at 16:00  |  1:15:00  |  Delphi Digital
Speakers
Jason Yanowitz — Co-Founder, Blockworks
Ceteris — Head of Research, Delphi Digital
Kevin — CFO, Apple Inc.
Jose — Host
Tom Shaughnessy — Co-Founder, Delphi Digital

Summary

The Delphi Hivemind team debates whether AI is in a bubble and whether open-source models will disrupt frontier AI labs. They discuss enterprise AI spending, AI capex and debt financing, political and regulatory risks, equities and memory valuations, SpaceX and AI IPOs, and crypto positioning in Hyperliquid, Zcash, and Bitcoin. The guests remain broadly risk-on into midterms and Q4 while flagging near-term froth in some AI infrastructure and crypto names.

  • Team debates OpenAI and Anthropic valuation durability as enterprises shift workloads to cheaper open-source models.
  • Participants see AI bubble dynamics but argue fundamentals and capex remain strong; several favor staying long into midterms and Q4.
  • Mag seven and memory stocks are viewed as cheap relative to dot-com-era leaders despite high headline valuations.
  • Political and regulatory risks around AI and data centers are highlighted as key 2026 midterm variables.
  • Hyperliquid HYPE is a major crypto long due to supply-demand and ETF/assistant-fund buying pressure.
  • Zcash is defended as a private Bitcoin/store-of-value play after its bug-related sell-off.
  • Strategy/MSTR and Bitcoin are viewed cautiously due to Saylor overhang and mNAV/dividend risks.
Ideas
Bitcoin faces Saylor overhang, avoid.
Bitcoin is tough because Strategy/Saylor is the main buyer and is in a difficult spot with mNAV, ATM, and dividend issues. The market needs resolution, and he is more bullish on other assets than Bitcoin right now.
Bullish equities into midterms and Q4.
There is a lot of incentive for markets to go up between now and the midterms and year-end. Warsh views inflation as a choice by the Fed and would likely choose higher inflation over raising rates in the near term. Conditions are good enough for things to continue higher, so he is staying risk-on, not taking risk off, and is bullish into Q4.
HYPE supply-demand setup points higher.
HYPE has a very favorable supply-demand setup: unlocks are less than expected, and buying pressure comes from the assistance fund, ETFs, Hyperliquid dot per, a billion-dollar credit facility, and the Circle USDC deal not yet reflected. He is bullish HYPE and expects it much higher in coming weeks and months, calling it the most compelling crypto-specific investment he has seen in years.
Ceteris Host 25:16
Own indexes, don't time macro top.
He still owns the indexes and will not try to time the macro top because the upside risk is that this really is a new paradigm and he might never get a chance to buy back in. Earnings are going up fast compared to past bubbles.
Strategy mNAV and dividend risk, avoid.
Strategy/MSTR is in a messy spot. Saylor may run the mNAV down as much as he can toward 0.5, continues using the ATM for half Bitcoin and half cash buys, and the dividend is a perpetual liability. The reserve is around $1.1B versus roughly $1.15B annual dividend, only about a year of coverage. He sees it as a big unforced error and warns holders.
Zcash hack sell-off is buying opportunity.
The Zcash bug/hack sell-off was a buying opportunity similar to Hyperliquid's jelly exploit. Hacks are inevitable and what matters is how they are handled; the Zcash team handled it well, the bug was not exploited, Mythos audited clean, and the Ironwood upgrade and formal verification should make the new shielded pool battle-tested. Zcash remains a private Bitcoin/store-of-value narrative with strong dev talent and is still small versus the TAM.
Ceteris Host 31:17
Mag seven and AI leaders look cheap.
Although Shiller CAPE is very high, the mag seven and core AI players look extremely cheap versus dot-com leaders. Nvidia has 47% free cash flow margins and trades around 20x forward earnings, Meta around 18x, and Google around 20-something times. These are not bubble valuations.
Kevin Host 33:02
Memory stocks cheap on tight supply.
The memory trade does not look that expensive even after running up 5x. SK Hynix trades around 6x forward earnings, Micron 10-11x, and SanDisk around 25x. Revenue growth is exploding and supply shortages likely persist for at least one to two years; if supply does not come online, these look cheap, and even if prices collapse, they may be fairly valued.
Jose Host 41:48
AI bubble inflates further, stay long.
We are in a bubble, but it will inflate much bigger than this. Multiple overlapping technological trends—AI, data center buildout, robotics, drones, and bio—support the direction of travel up. AI capabilities are still underestimated, and while 10-15% drops are likely, the overall trend is higher.
Jose Host 44:39
Data center REITs show froth, avoid.
Within AI infrastructure, there is a lot of froth in the REITs, real estate REITs, and data center related/infrastructure companies. While the broader capex cycle looks healthy, these frothy names are dangerous to own.
Kevin Host 50:21
Buy AI dips on government backstop.
AI is tied to US national security and the US government cannot afford to lose the AI race. The Trump administration has said it will backstop AI dips and buy equity in AI companies, so every pullback while Trump is in office is likely a buy. He is holding longs for the next few years.
Up Next

This Delphi Digital video, published June 18, 2026, features Jason Calacanis, Ceteris, Kevin, Jose discussing BTC, Equities, HYPE, MSTR, ZEC, NVDA, META, GOOGL, 000660.KS, MU, SNDK, AI-SECTOR, XLRE. 11 trade ideas extracted by AI with direction and confidence scoring.

Speakers: Jason Calacanis, Ceteris, Kevin, Jose  · Tickers: BTC, Equities, HYPE, MSTR, ZEC, NVDA, META, GOOGL, 000660.KS, MU, SNDK, AI-SECTOR, XLRE