Dragonfly Managing Partner Haseeb Qureshi has a straightforward message for crypto investors: holding Bitcoin through every downturn is the only strategy that has consistently delivered results. Speaking on the When Shift Happens podcast in July, Qureshi reflected on his own entry into the industry and the lessons drawn from years of market cycles—arguing that most investors fail not because of bad timing, but because they abandon "the obvious thing."

Staying in the Market: The Only Strategy That Has Worked

Qureshi entered the crypto industry in late 2017 and witnessed Bitcoin fall from $19,000 to $4,000, with Ethereum dropping below $100. He described 2018 as potentially worse than the post-FTX period, noting that in 2018, there was no single party to blame for the collapse—making it psychologically harder to endure.

"There are so many people I know who came into crypto at the same time I did and didn't make money," Qureshi said. "The answer is very simple. You just didn't do the obvious thing, which is stay in the market."

He pointed to venture capital as a structural model that enforces this discipline—limited partners are locked up and unable to sell even when they want to, which he said partly explains why the asset class performs.

Institutional Adoption Remains in Early Stages

Qureshi highlighted that most of Dragonfly's institutional limited partners hold less than 1% of their portfolios in crypto. He cited Morgan Stanley only recently beginning to recommend digital assets to high-net-worth clients, and Vanguard approving BlackRock's IBIT as markers of how early institutional participation remains.

On the regulatory front, he noted that the biggest predictor of who voted for the FIT 21 crypto bill in the House was age, not party affiliation—with younger Congress members voting yes and older ones voting no. Qureshi drew a parallel between crypto adoption and the generational curve that characterised the shift to cloud computing.

Bitcoin's Volatility Reflects Its Unfinished Transition

Addressing critics who argue Bitcoin should trade like gold during periods of macro stress, Qureshi said the comparison misunderstands Bitcoin's current status. He described Bitcoin as a bet on something that may become like gold, not something that already is.

His reasoning: if the market believes Bitcoin reaches saturation in 10 years, it prices accordingly. If expectations shift to 15 years, the asset gets marked down sharply even if the terminal value stays the same. He offered a rough saturation price range of well above $100,000, and probably below $1 million.

Ethereum and Solana: Growth Regime, Not Revenue Regime

Qureshi pushed back on analysts applying a cash flow framework to Ethereum and Solana, arguing it is the wrong lens for assets in a growth phase. He noted that Ethereum barely moves when fees increase—its price responds to growth expectations, much the way Tesla trades on robotics and autonomous vehicle potential rather than current earnings.

Crypto Enters a Buildout Phase as AI Draws Frontier Talent

On the trend of crypto talent migrating to artificial intelligence, Qureshi said the shift is healthy rather than alarming. He described crypto as now entering a buildout phase—executing on proven infrastructure rather than pioneering new concepts. Drawing a comparison to social media, he noted that the sector went 20 to 30x between 2010 and today without a single major new idea after 2010, suggesting crypto's next phase of gains does not require a return to its earlier, more chaotic period.

Standard Chartered has maintained its $100,000 year-end 2026 price target for Bitcoin, arguing that recent market weakness is mainly tied to Strategy Inc. reflects a messaging problem rather than any deterioration in the company's financial position. In a research note on Friday, Geoffrey Kendrick, Standard Chartered’s global head of digital assets research, described the situation at Strategy as a communication challenge. He argued that investors are adjusting to Strategy’s shift away from its long-standing "never sell Bitcoin" philosophy toward using Bitcoin as collateral to support its growing preferred stock business.

Strategy currently holds 843,775 BTC, representing more than 4% of Bitcoin’s maximum 21 million supply. Kendrick noted that Strategy’s previous model relied on its stock trading at a premium to the value of its Bitcoin holdings, allowing it to issue equity, purchase more Bitcoin and grow shareholder value. With that premium now largely gone, the company is repositioning Bitcoin as collateral backing STRC, its perpetual preferred stock that currently pays a 12% annual dividend.

The security has roughly $10 billion outstanding, making it Strategy’s largest financing vehicle. Concerns intensified after STRC fell well below its $100 par value, touching an intraday low of $71.25 in late June following Strategy’s disclosure that it had sold 32 BTC. Although Strategy has since expanded its U.S. dollar reserve to $2.55 billion, representing about 17.4 months of dividend coverage, STRC continues to trade near $90.

Kendrick believes stronger communication around Strategy’s monetization framework would restore confidence and reduce the need for future Bitcoin sales altogether. He compared the approach to a central bank pledging to do "whatever it takes," where credibility itself minimizes intervention.