I Didn't Believe Him at First

Mr. J walked over wearing a tan-and-brown Havana shirt and holding a mojito. He looked like someone straight out of Miami Vice in his white suit-white sneakers combo.

“Can I join you?” he asked our table, a ragtag group of market enthusiasts and fintech renegades. (I’m glad we said yes. I’ll show you why in a moment.)

My wife and I spent last week in Miami Beach for Consensus, the largest crypto conference in the Americas. On the conference stage, I heard from crypto big shots like Michael Saylor… Arthur Hayes… and Raoul Pal.

But as longtime Daily readers know, the best insights often happen away from the conference floor crowds – in the smaller, more private venues.

You just need an invitation.

It was at one of these side gatherings of crypto VCs, angel investors, and aficionados, tucked away on the second story of a 1960s restaurant serving empanadas, that I met Mr. J.

It was a balmy day in the high 80s, and an old A/C unit was working overtime to keep the barroom cool.

Through the tinted windows, I could make out the silhouettes of the palm trees that lined the street, their leaves getting knocked about by the sea breeze, just steps from Ocean Drive.

At first, I could barely hear Mr. J over the sound of bachata blaring from the speakers. But the more we talked, the more the music faded.

“People know me in Canada,” he told me. Now, I’m not one to take a company man at his word. But as our conversation went on, I realized he knew his stuff.

Of all the things he told me – about his business, his background, the fact he knows Vitalik Buterin personally… One insight in particular really caught my attention.

Because the way I see it, it has huge implications for the $117 trillion megatrend we’ve been following in these pages.

Why He Left Traditional Banking