5 min readAt the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN,) the ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) experiment just managed to do something that alchemists dreamed of for centuries: it turned lead into gold. Meanwhile, in the U.S., three researchers affiliated with Marathon Fusion, a San Francisco based-energy startup, have found a new and scalable method to transmute mercury into stable gold by using nuclear fusions. It's a poetic milestone, a reminder that with enough brilliance, capital, and time, humanity can bend the rules of nature.
But in the world of finance, no matter how many supercomputers you build or how many trillions you throw at the problem, there’s one monetary innovation you cannot recreate: Bitcoin. It is not a theory. It is not a promise. It is code immutable, auditable, and capped. In a Napierian sense, it is the first asset to escape the reach of fiscal repression.
So this is not another ode to Bitcoin, our digital energy. Its status is secure. Bitcoin is the benchmark.
The real question is: what’s next?
Now is the time to bet on innovation
Bitcoin today is like gold under Bretton Woods, an anchor. But anchors don’t sail ships. They stabilise them.
The real momentum is happening beyond the ETF headlines, in the Layer 1s and protocols that are quietly reshaping the internet’s monetary infrastructure. While institutional flows crowd into Bitcoin, the innovators are building elsewhere.
Solana has rallied with support from both retail and institutional investors. Sui is quietly executing, backed by strong DeFi applications and institutional demand, while Hyperliquid is reshuffling the deck with its self‑funded, grassroots development. And with the recent passage of the Clarity Act and the Genius Act in the U.S., the conversation is returning to fundamentals: pipes, protocols, and real-world infrastructure.
We’re not just trading tokens anymore. We’re allocating capital to the operating systems of the next economy starting with the internet of money.
Bitcoin is the base layer but it can’t be the only layer
Bitcoin will remain the cornerstone of any responsible allocation to digital assets. Just as some equity investors are content with the S&P 500, Bitcoin satisfies the base case. But for those seeking alpha, it’s no longer enough.
That doesn't mean chasing the latest meme coin. Hype fades faster than it compounds. But ignoring Ethereum or Solana at this point is like investing in the internet in 2002 and skipping Google.
If you’re just arriving to Bitcoin today, the train has already left the station. ETFs and the rise of listed options have dampened its volatility and, with it, some of the exponential optionality. That’s not a flaw; it’s a feature of market maturity.
But for growth-oriented investors, the real opportunity lies in intelligent altcoin curation.
From bubble to building: a cleaner slate
The 2018–2022 cycle left a toxic residue: inflated supplies, broken governance, poor unlock structures, and outright frauds. But most of that exuberance has been cleared.
Today’s projects, emerging in 2024 and 2025, are different. Stronger teams. Cleaner cap tables. Better governance. Yet the paradox remains: retail can’t tell the difference. That’s why asset managers exist. Our role is not to catalogue every coin but to curate what we think is investable.
This Isn’t a Game of Extremes
Being a “Bitcoin maxi” or a “degen gambler” are two sides of the same shallow coin. The mature investor’s stance lies in between.
Think in layers:
Bitcoin as your base layer: immutable, programmatically scarce, treated like digital gold by institutions. Bitcoin offers defensive positioning, low counterparty risk, and long‑term credibility in a space that can still be volatile.
Layer 1 / 2 and other protocols as your dynamic layer: think Solana, Ethereum, Sui, Sei, Ton and others. These networks are where innovation happens: DeFi protocols, and tokenized assets are built here. They’re riskier than Bitcoin, but they offer potential for outsized returns and exposure to the growth of crypto infrastructure itself.
A rotating strategy: move between these layers as the macro environment and risk appetite evolve. When the macro backdrop is uncertain, lean on Bitcoin’s stability. When innovation and risk appetite are rising, increase exposure to selective Layer 1s. Over time, this approach creates a dynamic allocation that adapts to both the market cycle and technological progress.
As Russell Napier has argued for years, financial history moves in long waves. We are in one of those waves now. A shift from central bank dominance to fiscal dominance, from fiat abstraction to digital collateral. Bitcoin is the anchor in that storm, but it's the altcoins that will sail the ship.
Crypto has entered its capital market phase
This moment is different. Crypto now behaves like a proper asset class with benchmarks, rotations, and sector dynamics. The parallels with traditional investments are real:
In equities, you rotate between emerging markets and developed ones, between U.S., Asia and Europe, between defensive, value and growth.
In crypto, you rotate around Bitcoin whilst the subsector are shaping up day after day
When fear rises, you retreat to Bitcoin. When conviction grows, you deploy into innovation.
Many layer 1s will die. Some already have. The challenge is no longer just to hold Bitcoin. It’s to understand the map of what lies beyond it, and invest with conviction.
