VanEck's AVAX thesis: product-market fit, economic clarity & institutional distribution

Morgan Krupetsky, VP of Business Development of Onchain Finance, Ava Labs & Matthew Siegel, Head of Digital Asset Research Matthew Siegel, VanEck

Episode 6 of Layer One, hosted by The Block's Kelvin Sparks and Hypha founder Steven Gates, was recorded with Ava Labs's VP of Business Development of Onchain Finance, Morgan Krupetsky, and VanEck's Head of Digital Asset Research Matthew Siegel.

Listen below, and subscribe to Layer One on YouTube, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Please send feedback and revision requests to [email protected].

In episode six of Layer One, The Block's Kelvin Sparks and Hypha Founder Steven Gates were joined by Ava Labs's VP of Business Development of Onchain Finance, Morgan Krupetsky, and VanEck's Head of Digital Asset Research Matthew Siegel. Together, the group discussed what actually drives institutional conviction in crypto.

Siegel explained why VanEck chose Avalanche for its first alt-L1 ETF, citing product-market fit, economic clarity, and an active BD team onboarding real institutions. The conversation covers DATs versus ETFs, the innovator's dilemma facing banks, and why market downturns are exactly when serious builders separate from tourists.

Outline

- Introduction
- Institutional vs. Retail Investing
- Avalanche's L1 Scaling Vision
- What Made AVAX Investable for VanEck
- ETFs, DATs & Leveraged Products
- Crossing the TradFi-DeFi Chasm
- Surviving the Downturn: HODL Culture
- Matt's Wishlist for Avalanche
- RWA Penetration & Private Credit
- Banks vs. Stablecoins: Innovator's Dilemma

GUEST/HOST LINKS
Matthew Siegel - twitter.com/matthew_sigel
VanEck - twitter.com/vaneck_us
Morgan Krupetsky - twitter.com/MorganKrupetsky
Ava Labs - twitter.com/AvaLabs
Steven Gates - ⁠⁠⁠twitter.com/stvngts⁠⁠⁠
Kelvin Sparks - ⁠⁠⁠twitter.com/imyoungsparks⁠⁠⁠

The Block Newsletters
The Block's newsletters bring you the latest news and analysis of the fast-moving crypto and DeFi markets. To subscribe, visit theblock.co/newsletters

Are you hiring in crypto?
Use Campus to quickly find your best candidates with our challenging Crypto Assessment Test.
Faster hiring, stronger teams.