The AI-crypto disconnect: Why Pantera’s CEO thinks institutions are missing the boat on bitcoin
Pantera Capital CEO Dan Morehead says the “biggest divergence in history” has left AI stocks fully priced while bitcoin remains massively undervalued at 43% below its historical trend.
What to know:
- Dan Morehead, founder and CEO of Pantera Capital, said cryptocurrency markets are “incredibly cheap” compared with what he views as overheated artificial intelligence stocks.
- Citing Pantera’s internal data, he said leading AI companies trade about 33 percent above their four-year log trend, while bitcoin is roughly 43 percent below its historical trajectory, creating what he called the biggest divergence on record.
- Morehead argued that limited institutional exposure, crypto’s four-year market cycle and its role as a hedge against currency debasement support a long-term bullish case, even as capital continues to favor AI in the near term.
“It’s just my intuition that although AI is very important, it’s going to go up big time over the long haul, seems to be pretty fully priced right now,” he said.
By contrast, “crypto…is incredibly cheap,” according to Morehead.
Pantera’s internal data backs that view. Morehead said an index of leading AI companies is “trading at 33% over its log trend of the last four years,” while bitcoin has fallen well below its own historical trajectory. “It’s 43% cheap to its trend,” he said, calling it “the biggest divergence we’ve seen in history.”
The gap comes as investor enthusiasm has tilted heavily toward AI, with large funding rounds and rising public market valuations. Crypto, meanwhile, has struggled to regain momentum despite broader adoption and regulatory progress in the U.S.
“The majority of institutions still don’t get it. They still don’t have any exposure,” Morehead said, adding that limited participation leaves room for future demand. Only a minority of large investors currently hold digital assets, he noted, even as the asset class matures.
