Money System Lie: ‘Riots In Streets’ If People Knew | Marco Santori

Watch on YouTube ↗  |  May 26, 2025 at 20:29  |  29:28  |  The David Lin Report
Speakers
Marco Santori — General Partner, Pantera Capital; Senior Advisor, Kraken; Board of WalletConnect Foundation
David Lin — Founder & Host, The David Lin Report / ex-Anchor, Kitco News

Summary

Marco Santori discusses how crypto policy has shifted under the Trump administration and why he sees the US Bitcoin strategic reserve and global crypto arms race as underappreciated bullish catalysts for Bitcoin. He explains his move from CeFi to DeFi, highlighting WalletConnect as critical self-custody infrastructure, and shares views on exchange consolidation, the Bybit hack, and retail versus institutional sentiment.

  • Marco Santori argues the US Bitcoin strategic reserve and stockpile are strategically justified because scarce digital assets may be hard to acquire in the future.
  • He believes the market is underpricing US and global sovereign Bitcoin accumulation, creating a large demand sink.
  • He expects pure crypto exchanges to be acquired by larger banks and fintechs once US regulatory clarity arrives.
  • Marco favors DeFi over CeFi and is moving toward WalletConnect, which he describes as market-leading self-custody infrastructure.
  • He sees Ethereum's deflationary schedule as a reason it could become hard to get.
  • The Bybit hack highlights the double-edged nature of bearer assets and is not solved by separating execution from custody.
  • Retail sentiment is weak after four years of regulatory damage, while institutions are better positioned to engage.
  • He is culturally intrigued by meme coins but is not buying any and has not figured out the investment case.
Ideas
Marco Santori General Partner, Pantera Capital; Senior Advisor, Kraken; Board of WalletConnect Foundation 0:09
Bitcoin underpriced as sovereigns accumulate.
Marco believes Bitcoin is massively underpriced because the US has moved the Bitcoin game-theory domino to the front of the line. He expects the Trump administration to make a budget-neutral attempt to accumulate more Bitcoin, and sees Russia and other major economies following, creating a huge demand sink for a limited-supply asset that will be hard to get in the future. He also argues strategic reserves and stockpiles are justified because these assets will become more powerful and difficult to acquire over time.
Marco Santori General Partner, Pantera Capital; Senior Advisor, Kraken; Board of WalletConnect Foundation 4:17
Ethereum deflation may cause scarcity.
Marco argues that Ethereum may become hard to get in the future, noting that its emissivity schedule changed and its deflationary nature means it could face scarcity, similar to the strategic-reserve argument for Bitcoin.
Marco Santori General Partner, Pantera Capital; Senior Advisor, Kraken; Board of WalletConnect Foundation 13:47
WalletConnect leads self-custody DeFi infrastructure.
Marco is on the board of the WalletConnect Foundation and describes WalletConnect as critical market-leader infrastructure that connects wallets to web apps and DeFi, enabling self-custody and permissionless development. He is moving from CeFi to DeFi and expects adoption to follow this self-custody path.
Marco Santori General Partner, Pantera Capital; Senior Advisor, Kraken; Board of WalletConnect Foundation 14:04
DeFi is the endgame for crypto.
Marco says DeFi is better than CeFi and is the end goal, because it preserves self-custody and peer-to-peer transactions. He views Kraken as a bridge from traditional finance to DeFi, but believes self-custody and DeFi adoption should lead the way.
Up Next

This The David Lin Report video, published May 26, 2025, features Marco Santori discussing BTC, ETH, WalletConnect, DEFI. 4 trade ideas extracted by AI with direction and confidence scoring.

Speakers: Marco Santori  · Tickers: BTC, ETH, WalletConnect, DEFI