Bloomberg analyst covering ETFs, crypto and asset management. Breaking down filings, flows and market structure. Views my own. Likes, RT's& Follows≠endorsements
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Joined March 2012
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James Seyffart retweeted
this is gold's quantum FUD but it's way worse because you can't software update gold.
Last month, we demonstrated high-rate alchemy: turning mercury into real, stable gold, beating CERN’s record by a factor of 10.
Last week, we enriched isotopes in the world’s most powerful plasma centrifuge, beating the Soviet record that stood for 40 years.
Now, we’re building a fusion reactor in San Francisco to achieve record power density.
James Seyffart retweeted
This is total nonsense.
We're one of the largest early investors in Polymarket, and this story that Shayne was "caught red-handed" using company money is just a flat out garbage hit piece.
Shayne wasn't taking a salary. He was 21 when he started Polymarket, he was living hand-to-mouth running the company out of his apartment, barely making ends meet when he was raising his seed round. We were his first term sheet and literally offered to loan him money personally, but he ended up not needing it when the seed round came together.
After COVID and the crazy Biden-era crackdown on crypto that was happening at the time, there was a lot of chaos in almost every company in the industry. As an investor, we saw a lot of companies go through pandemic-era startup craziness, and Polymarket was no exception.
But Shayne disclosed every dollar he spent, which turned out to annualize to about a software engineer's salary. That's including the flights, none of which were personal flights. Plus, SHAYNE STARTED the accounting and payback process, no one “found” it. In aggregate, it was nothing that an investor would balk at. He paid it back to the company in full, and then got on a normal salary like everyone else.
It was an accounting problem, not an integrity problem. It was not a big deal.
Polymarket has had growing pains, no doubt. It went from a small fledging startups to one of the most explosive consumer brands in America. But Shayne has leveled up alongside the company, and as investors we have total confidence in him.
Enough of this stupid FUD.
The end.
🚨 BREAKING : Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan caught using COMPANY MONEY for Private Jets flights.
Peter Thiel caught him red-handed using his investment money as a personal wallet.
Founders Fund, Peter Thiel's fund, discovered that Shayne had charged the following as company expenses :
- private jet flights
- apartment rent
- designer clothes
They immediately demanded a FULL REFUND
Shayne was forced to reimburse the money.
ICE and Founders Fund then teamed up to push for stronger financial controls
They were the one that forced Shayne to appoint a COO.
You remember Shayne's ChatGPT written tweet gleefully announcing the hiring of Collin McKinney Hill as COO ?
I called it extremely suspicious at the time. Turns out i was right, investors basically forced Shayne to hire him as a soft coup.
I don't know how long Shayne can stay in place when their main investors have lost confidence.
James Seyffart retweeted
Ed Zitron, a newsletter guy who's been calling the AI top for years, just had an absolute crash out 😂
"Jensen Huang is a piece of shit. Every hyperscaler CEO is too."
He even apologized to his readers for having been too polite before.
This is what being wrong on AI that long does to a man.
What's next, Ed? Jensen did 9/11? 🤣
James Seyffart retweeted
“Both Sides of the Coin” by @JSeyff and @EricBalchunas is a fantastic and very human travelog of how we got here in Bitcoin. It not only captures the very real debates of the crypto-now, it provides a clever, often funny guidebook for some of the crazy that happened along the way.
Some favorite headings:
“Who orange pilled Larry Fink” (a ten page investigative journalism aside)
“Each Blockchain has an army of maniacs/enthusiasts”
“I get knocked down (but I get up again)”
“Psychological Assets”
“Not trusting the government is utterly American.”
Plus it’s got this amazing quote from @ElisabethKashne
James Seyffart retweeted
Trump Accounts may soon be expanded even more to anyone under 40yrs old. That would be another 100 million people, on top of the 70 million kids and 3.5mil babies born each year. This according to Brad Gerstner who is the main guy spearheading efforts on this. He also said Elon is 'tip of iceberg' Nice scoop and piece on it from @LydiaMoynihan @nypost
James Seyffart retweeted
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight at you, then they add you to their Long-Term Capital Markets Assumptions paper and predict you'll be the best-performing asset of the next decade.
James Seyffart retweeted
The "my house hasn't burned down so why am I paying for a fire dept" libertarian idealists are back at it today. A society with voluntary taxation is a prisoner's dilemma and a pipe dream. If you're mad at how your local govt spends money, it's time to start fucking voting.
James Seyffart retweeted
The irritating thing is that this guy, and to some extent, his entire generation, really do think that they're the victims in all this, the people getting screwed. When literally no generation in the history of this planet has ever been treated as well on a relative basis.
“I’m old. I’ve paid my home off,” said Ray Warner, a 72-year-old Akron resident. “Why would I pay property tax?”
Across the country, homeowners are asking the same question and revolting against property taxes at a scale not seen in a half century.
politico.com/news/magazine/2…
James Seyffart retweeted
“Bear markets are a good thing, they’re healthy, they wash out a lot of the dipshttery going on. Let’s get it over with” - @MebFaber at Dirtcon. Makes case for unloved areas like foreign stocks, small caps and value. Also a short rant on etf spaghetti cannon. Great presentation.
James Seyffart retweeted
The ETF industry is on fire, tracking to (maybe) $2 TRILLION in flows by year end. But you might be surprised who's really making the money: it's pretty much all-active, all-the-time: My latest at @etfcom etf.com/sections/advisor-cen…
James Seyffart retweeted
This angle and the lesser quality video make it look more impressive imo. The demo seemed more like CGI pre-tape.
James Seyffart retweeted
If anyone says that the Roadster demo wasn't cool take anything that they ever say and immediately throw it into the trash forever. If they can't even admit that this was freaking cool they have a COMPLETE ego problem. Blinded by hatred. Total derangement. Incurable. Terminal.
James Seyffart retweeted
.@EricBalchunas told me his mom called Bitcoin “funny money from space.”
He still only recommends a 3% allocation, which in @saylor terms means you need 97 better ideas, so I asked him why.
Enjoy this clip from our show 👇🏼
My favorite episode with @EricBalchunas yet.
Ahead of his new book with @JSeyff, he walked me through his path from skeptic to Bitcoin believer, what his mom said the first time she heard about Bitcoin, what happened when he actually tried self-custody, and the inside story of how BlackRock’s ETF almost never got filed at all.
We also got into why he calls Bitcoin a teenager, what Jack Bogle and Bitcoiners have in common, whether the government ends up buying stocks, and who he thinks is quietly stealing Bitcoin’s best argument.
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Trailer
00:53 Why nothing stops the stock market
3:47 What actually turned Bitcoin around
8:45 Why gold stopped working and Bitcoin took over
10:39 The strange new ETFs Wall Street is launching
13:47 How easy it is to launch an ETF?
17:02 Why so many young men are losing money trading
19:28 Will the government start buying stocks?
23:04 Who actually owns the stock market
27:41 How a skeptic ended up writing a Bitcoin book
31:50 Why Bitcoin keeps coming back from the dead
35:16 "Funny money from space"
40:41 The inside story of BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF
43:38 The first asset that came from the people
47:09 What happened when he tried cold storage
48:39 What Bitcoiners can learn from Jack Bogle
54:30 Where this goes over the next 10 years
James Seyffart retweeted
More Hyperliquid perps on the Terminal, plus a new deployer column — heading into today's US market open:
James Seyffart retweeted
bombshell report from the OCC out today confirming what we all suspected:
between 2020 and 2025, based on a review of 100,000 complaints, America’s largest banks systematically denied banking to lawful businesses based on political and reputational considerations rather than objective financial risk, effectively appointing themselves arbiters of which industries deserved access to the financial system. digital assets was specifically named as one of the six most affected industries.
TLDR: we weren't imagining it. OCP2.0 was real.
James Seyffart retweeted
Did you know that BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF $IBIT almost didn't happen?
@EricBalchunas shares a fascinating behind-the-scenes story in his new book.
Don't miss our full interview streaming now on all platforms.
My favorite episode with @EricBalchunas yet.
Ahead of his new book with @JSeyff, he walked me through his path from skeptic to Bitcoin believer, what his mom said the first time she heard about Bitcoin, what happened when he actually tried self-custody, and the inside story of how BlackRock’s ETF almost never got filed at all.
We also got into why he calls Bitcoin a teenager, what Jack Bogle and Bitcoiners have in common, whether the government ends up buying stocks, and who he thinks is quietly stealing Bitcoin’s best argument.
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Trailer
00:53 Why nothing stops the stock market
3:47 What actually turned Bitcoin around
8:45 Why gold stopped working and Bitcoin took over
10:39 The strange new ETFs Wall Street is launching
13:47 How easy it is to launch an ETF?
17:02 Why so many young men are losing money trading
19:28 Will the government start buying stocks?
23:04 Who actually owns the stock market
27:41 How a skeptic ended up writing a Bitcoin book
31:50 Why Bitcoin keeps coming back from the dead
35:16 "Funny money from space"
40:41 The inside story of BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF
43:38 The first asset that came from the people
47:09 What happened when he tried cold storage
48:39 What Bitcoiners can learn from Jack Bogle
54:30 Where this goes over the next 10 years
James Seyffart retweeted
My first official book intv w/ Natalie who got early copy. Covered a lot of ground. Main thrust: Bitcoin is in a transition period, like most 18yr olds. Huge feat to make it this far, penetrate Wall Street, the govt, get ETF-ized, attract Boomers and become legit asset class. Some things that will help it grow from here IMO: decreasing volatility and correlation, fighting harder to 'own' the messaging as solution to affordability problem (which is only going to get worse) and fending off any quantum/AI threats and/or replacement networks. This is why we almost called the book Bitcoin Grows Up.
My favorite episode with @EricBalchunas yet.
Ahead of his new book with @JSeyff, he walked me through his path from skeptic to Bitcoin believer, what his mom said the first time she heard about Bitcoin, what happened when he actually tried self-custody, and the inside story of how BlackRock’s ETF almost never got filed at all.
We also got into why he calls Bitcoin a teenager, what Jack Bogle and Bitcoiners have in common, whether the government ends up buying stocks, and who he thinks is quietly stealing Bitcoin’s best argument.
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Trailer
00:53 Why nothing stops the stock market
3:47 What actually turned Bitcoin around
8:45 Why gold stopped working and Bitcoin took over
10:39 The strange new ETFs Wall Street is launching
13:47 How easy it is to launch an ETF?
17:02 Why so many young men are losing money trading
19:28 Will the government start buying stocks?
23:04 Who actually owns the stock market
27:41 How a skeptic ended up writing a Bitcoin book
31:50 Why Bitcoin keeps coming back from the dead
35:16 "Funny money from space"
40:41 The inside story of BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF
43:38 The first asset that came from the people
47:09 What happened when he tried cold storage
48:39 What Bitcoiners can learn from Jack Bogle
54:30 Where this goes over the next 10 years
James Seyffart retweeted
DOJ says this was a Saudi National
We discovered a sophisticated recording device that was hidden inside one of our offices. We used our models to understand the device and where it had come from, identifying that a specific employee had planted it a few days earlier. We referred the matter to the FBI, and we’re grateful to the agents and prosecutors who moved quickly to make an arrest. The FBI’s investigation is ongoing and we will continue to support their work.
At this time, we have no indications of this individual inappropriately accessing or exfiltrating model weights, source code, or customer data. The employee was terminated.
We take protecting our technology, data, and people seriously, and as a matter of national importance. Our security program is designed to protect against a wide range of threat actors, from insider risks to cybercriminals to nation states, and this case is an example of how AI can help address these sophisticated security threats.
James Seyffart retweeted
My favorite episode with @EricBalchunas yet.
Ahead of his new book with @JSeyff, he walked me through his path from skeptic to Bitcoin believer, what his mom said the first time she heard about Bitcoin, what happened when he actually tried self-custody, and the inside story of how BlackRock’s ETF almost never got filed at all.
We also got into why he calls Bitcoin a teenager, what Jack Bogle and Bitcoiners have in common, whether the government ends up buying stocks, and who he thinks is quietly stealing Bitcoin’s best argument.
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Trailer
00:53 Why nothing stops the stock market
3:47 What actually turned Bitcoin around
8:45 Why gold stopped working and Bitcoin took over
10:39 The strange new ETFs Wall Street is launching
13:47 How easy it is to launch an ETF?
17:02 Why so many young men are losing money trading
19:28 Will the government start buying stocks?
23:04 Who actually owns the stock market
27:41 How a skeptic ended up writing a Bitcoin book
31:50 Why Bitcoin keeps coming back from the dead
35:16 "Funny money from space"
40:41 The inside story of BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF
43:38 The first asset that came from the people
47:09 What happened when he tried cold storage
48:39 What Bitcoiners can learn from Jack Bogle
54:30 Where this goes over the next 10 years
James Seyffart retweeted
Institutional Dynamics and the Bitcoin ETF Landscape ⚡️ James Seyffart, Bloomberg Intelligence @JSeyff #Bitcoin $BTC $ETH
◾️ETF Resilience & Investor Psychology: Despite severe market drawdowns, US spot Bitcoin ETFs experienced incredibly modest net outflows of just 12% to 13%. The primary sellers during pullbacks were hedge funds, while registered investment advisors steadily increased their allocations, highlighting a committed, long-term holder base.
◾️The Basis Trade Unwind: Hedge funds initially dominated ETF ownership by executing a cash-and-carry basis trade (buying spot ETFs and shorting futures) to capture yields that previously reached 20% annualized. As that yield compressed to 5% to 6%, hedge funds systematically unwound their positions, driving net selling without signaling outright directional bearishness.
◾️Competitive Fee Dynamics: Contrary to expectations of a winner-take-all scenario, the market has proven highly viable for multiple issuers, with many funds surpassing $1 billion in assets. Aggressive pre-launch fee competition pushed expense ratios down to roughly 20 basis points, creating highly accessible cost structures for allocators.
00:00 – Introduction and James Seyffart's upcoming book, Both Sides of the Coin
06:02 – Analyzing ETF holder psychology and the remarkable 12–13% outflow resilience
08:35 – Recent ETF inflow trends and tracking the $63 billion cumulative inflow peak
10:44 – Bitcoin ETFs vs. Gold ETFs: The AUM gap, portfolio integration, and perceived risks 16:08 – Market share dynamics and the race to $1 billion AUM across multiple issuers
18:42 – The aggressive ETF fee war and the push down to 20 basis points 21:25 – Dissecting ETF ownership: Retail investors, investment advisors, and hedge funds
23:13 – Why hedge funds are unwinding the 20% annualized cash-and-carry basis trade
25:27 – Ethereum ETF landscape and comparing its 20% outflows to Bitcoin