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Meet the CIO: Mike Kelly and NYDIG's Robert Gutmann talk Bitcoin

June 14, 2021 |  3 minute read
Why is Bitcoin so important? Robert Gutmann answers this question and more during this deep dive.

Featuring Mike Kelly, FS Chief Investment Officer at FS Investments and Robert Gutmann, NYDIG CEO.

About this episode: Part 1
In this “Meet the CIO” podcast, FS Chief Investment Officer Mike Kelly does a deep dive on the investment opportunity today with Bitcoin, with leading industry expert, NYDIG CEO Robert Gutmann. In Part 1, Mike and Robert discuss the relevance of Bitcoin today, the drivers of adoption and how to think about Bitcoin within an investment portfolio.

About this episode: Part 2
In Part 2, Mike and Robert dive into an overview of NYDIG and what they do, institutional adoption of Bitcoin and the environmental impact of Bitcoin.

Transcript excerpt:
Mike (00:54:09):
So, but with that really honored to have this evening to have a discussion and to speak with, with Robby Gutmann, Robby is a co-founder and CEO of NYDIG. He’s also a co-founder of Stone Ridge where he is a member of the firm’s management committee and investment committee prior to taking on his role as CEO of NYDIG. Robert served as the head of product development and execution at Stone Ridge overseeing the investment strategy formulation, and serving as a portfolio manager on all of Stone Ridge’s funds. Robby received his BA in Mathematics and Music from Columbia University. So thanks Robby for joining us.

Robert Gutmann (00:55:05):
Thanks, Mike. It’s a pleasure to be here. Pleasure to be speaking to you and the entire audience tonight.

Mike (00:55:11):
It’s great. It’s great. Well, I thought what we would do is just start with a real broad philosophical question, which is, “why in your mind is Bitcoin so important? And what does its existence represent to you in your mind?”

Robert Gutmann (00:55:32):
Sure. I’ll answer both of those the same, which is in my mind, Bitcoin represents the first time in human history that we have a technology that provides an open-source monetary system for every free individual on earth to engage with. And for those of us who were fortunate enough to live our lives denominated in the dollar, it may not be quite so visceral as to why that’s so important. But if you live your life, for example, denominated in Argentinian pesos or Venezuelan bolivárs, the idea of an open-source technology that you can store your wealth in, store your day’s labor in, that’s something that’s never before existed in human history. And it’s literally life-changing to have access to a money that your government can’t confiscate or inflate away.

Mike (00:56:26):
Great. Now we probably have a real range of expertise and experience and understanding of Bitcoin generally. So maybe for those here that are not as familiar with Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, can you give us a quick summary of what is Bitcoin, how it works and who creates it?

Robert Gutmann (00:56:50):
Sure. Bitcoin is an open source network. It runs on the internet, just like the open source protocols that run your email or your web browser. Except instead of sending webpages over the network or emails over the network, you use it to send value over the network. That’s the easiest way I can think of to explain it. In terms of who created it, it was created by an anonymous person. In late 2009, an anonymous person that called himself Satoshi Nakamoto published a white paper outlining this open source protocol. And the way it’s created is through a process called mining. You may have heard that term. And what that is every 10 minutes, the protocol itself creates new Bitcoin and entities called miners compete to win those new Bitcoin in a process that actually secures the network. So it’s a beautifully designed game theory aspect, essentially where the people that secure the network, that make sure that you can trust that your Bitcoin aren’t getting stolen by somebody else, they’re actually self interested in making sure that the value stays high.

Download the full transcript for Part 1.

Download the full transcript for Part 2.

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This report has been prepared solely for informational purposes and does not represent investment advice or provide an opinion regarding the fairness of any transaction to any and all parties nor does it constitute an offer, solicitation or a recommendation to buy or sell any particular security or instrument or to adopt any investment strategy. Charts and graphs provided herein are for illustrative purposes only. This report does not represent valuation judgments with respect to any financial instrument, issuer, security or sector that may be described or referenced herein and does not represent a formal or official view of New York Digital Investment Group or its affiliates (“NYDIG”).

It should not be assumed that NYDIG will make investment recommendations in the future that are consistent with the views expressed herein, or use any or all of the techniques or methods of analysis described herein in managing client accounts. NYDIG may have positions (long or short) or engage in securities transactions that are not consistent with the information and views expressed in this report.

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The information provided herein is valid only for the purpose stated herein and as of the date hereof (or such other date as may be indicated herein) and no undertaking has been made to update the information, which may be superseded by subsequent market events or for other reasons. The information in this report may contain forward-looking statements regarding future events, targets, or expectations regarding the strategies, techniques or investment philosophies described herein. NYDIG neither assumes any duty to nor undertakes to update any forward-looking statements. There is no assurance that any forward-looking events or targets will be achieved, and actual outcomes may be significantly different from those shown herein. The information in this report, including statements concerning financial market trends, is based on current market conditions, which will fluctuate and may be superseded by subsequent market events or for other reasons.

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