Dear Friends & Family,

In the 1950s, the Soviet Union had more scientists and engineers relative to its population than any other major country.

Then came the Sputnik shock(s) of 1957, which, after some introspection, triggered a robust response from the United States - leading to increased investment in education and space exploration.

This moment ignited the technological revolution that ultimately gave us the Internet, iPhones, Amazon, Google, and ChatGPT, fueling an era of unprecedented economic growth and innovation.

It’s a gift that keeps on giving, further propelled by the U.S.'s ability to attract the brightest minds in science.

Today, Russia has become mostly irrelevant in scientific advancements, while China has taken its place.

The phrase "China has more honor students than the U.S. has students" is often cited when comparing the two countries' education systems.

So, could the third Sputnik shock - which rattled Western LLM developers in January with the emergence of DeepSeek - trigger a similar response from the U.S.?

After all, there’s no better remedy for hubris than public humiliation.

As the full scope of the DeepSeek story unfolds, it’s remarkable how a single event can shake confidence in a trillion-dollar industry overnight.

Does this also create tailwinds for crypto?

Very much so, and Pantera captured the essence of the moment perfectly:

"Imagine the state of the Internet if Jeff Bezos went to jail for online book sales. If Steve Jobs were sanctioned for launching the App Store? Or, if Jensen Huang was forced to build Nvidia outside of the US because Operation Chokepoint closed his bank account? That's the twilight zone that our industry is emerging from."

If the U.S. truly embraces crypto deregulation, it won’t just be a domestic shift - it will have repercussions on global markets, forcing other nations to recalibrate their approach.

Talk about waking up a sleeping giant.

Welcome Unified

Canada is often underrated as a tech startup hub, yet its distinct approach sets it apart from California.

It has produced innovation giants like Vitalik Buterin (Ethereum), James Gosling (creator of Java), and Geoffrey Hinton (the “Godfather of AI”).

Now, in Toronto, Roy Pereira and Alexey Adamsky are building an API to serve as the real-time, AI-compatible interface for SaaS applications.

Both are serial founders with multiple exits—and yes, just as laid-back as the stereotypical Silicon Valley startup crowd.

Unified is their latest brainchild, and we’re thrilled to announce our investment in them.

API tools are undergoing an architectural shift to meet the growing demand for real-time data exchange and AI-optimized features.

Unified’s cutting-edge architecture is built precisely for this future.

Roy, Alexey, and their incredible colleagues are on a mission to cement Unified’s place among Canada’s legendary tech founders.

If you're in the SaaS space and tired of building and maintaining endless integrations, talk to these guys - they’ll make your life a whole lot easier!

Davos Web3 Investor Gathering

Together with our friends from Animoca Brands, we hosted the 3rd Web3 Investor Gathering in Davos - featuring what was undoubtedly the best lineup of speakers we’ve ever had.

(I’ve always wanted to use that line from Apple Keynotes, where they declare every new, only slightly improved iPhone to be the best one ever.)

But jokes aside, this year’s speaker list truly set a new bar:

Anthony Scaramucci (SkyBridge Capital), Yat Siu (Animoca Brands), Nitin Gaur (LedgerLink), Olav Chen (Storebrand), Himanshu Gulati (Norwegian Parliament), Charis Campbell (Animoca Brands), Annelise Osborne (Kadena), Philipp Vonmoos (Solana), Gordon Liao (Circle), Porter Stowell (Filecoin), Ewan Auyang (Animoca Brands), Alan Lau (Animoca Brands), Bibin Babu (Paycio), Laura Inamedinova (Gate.io), Gopi Kannappan (bitsCrunch), Prakash Somosundram (AYA), Constantin Kogan (TDX), and Terence Kwok (Humanity Protocol) - an incredible mix of perspectives that made for some truly entertaining and animated discussions.

A personal highlight - especially for many of our Indian guests - was the fireside chat with Vivek Anand Oberoi, the renowned Indian actor turned businessman, who now runs a family office with 2,500 employees.

Equally impressive was Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the founder of Paytm, who took his company public at a $19 billion valuation in his quest to build the PayPal of India.

A shoutout to our colleague Sagar, who single-handedly orchestrated this event for the third time - executing it flawlessly yet again.

And, of course, a big thank-you to our co-host, sponsors, and wonderful guests - without whom none of this would have been possible.

Coming up: Dinner & Wine, April 3

Have you already been to our beautiful castle located among the vineyards in the charming town of Neustadt an der Weinstrasse?

On April 3, we will host our fifth invitation-only "Dinner & Wine" in this stunning setting.

In 2023, Uli Spindler, entrepreneur and co-founder of Blockchain Founders Capital, had the idea of bringing together people on his beautiful estate who share a common curiosity for technology, start-ups and venture capital.

Since then, we have enjoyed wonderful evenings with great conversations, excellent cuisine from Palatinate star chefs, and laughter that lasts until the wee hours of the morning.

The atmosphere is relaxed, everyone is on first-name terms (yes, even in Germany!), and about a third of our guests are now regulars - always happy to meet new faces.

So, if you are a family office or a private investor interested in venture capital and open to making new friends, feel free to drop me a note by responding to this email.

I’ve yet to hear from anyone who didn’t find this event both wonderful and worthwhile - even those who traveled from afar.

Coming up: ETH Denver, February 27

With our friends from Sigma Capital, Vineet Budki's new fund, Fantv, and Internet Computer, we are hosting an invite-only brunch during the ETH Denver convention on February 27.

If you happen to be around, and would like to meet our colleague Ben and Sagar, register here for the event or contact them directly.

Recommended

There’s no doubt that blockchain technology will become the technological backbone of the financial industry and an integral part of most modern tech stacks.

But Bitcoin—that’s a different story. Or is it?

In preparation for our Davos event, which once again featured an opening keynote by Anthony Scaramucci, I decided to read his new book, “The Little Book of Bitcoin: What You Need to Know that Wall Street Has Already Figured Out”.

Most books about Bitcoin are rather boring, recycling the same old narratives about banking the unbanked and democratization.

But Anthony Scaramucci’s book is different. It’s about psychology and shifting paradigms.

“I think the punchline gets missed with everyone focusing on Bitcoin. The revolution is really about moving to the decentralized world.”

He shares how Wall Street slowly came to embrace Bitcoin, how he was ridiculed and lost many investors in his hedge fund - people who thought he had lost his mind when he pivoted to crypto.

And how, last year, SkyBridge’s flagship fund outperformed many of Wall Street’s biggest hedge funds, including Tiger Global, Citadel, and Pershing Square.

Whatever your personal conclusion, it never hurts to read a good book.

Join our stellar investors

Join us in shaping the future of the internet with Web3, AI, and beyond - and become an investor in our fund.

We’re proud to say that you’d be in the company of a wonderful group of esteemed investors, family offices, and entrepreneurs who are not only highly knowledgeable but also share a never-ending curiosity for new technologies.

And on a personal level, these are the kind of people you’d want to grab a beer or dinner with and discuss just about everything.

We couldn’t be more honored to have their trust.

If you’d like to learn more, reply to this email (which is sent from my personal email account), and meet us in person.

All the very best,

Wolfgang (Frankfurt) with Ben (Berlin, currently Bogota), Marcel (Munich), and Sagar (Munich, currently India and Dubai)