Cryptocurrencies could deliver a better payoff from the artificial intelligence boom than AI stocks themselves, according to Visser Labs founder Jordi Visser.
Explosive gains in AI stocks are becoming harder to repeat, Visser tells Cointelegraph’s Trade Secrets. At the same time, AI agents are creating demand for crypto payments and tokenized assets.
“Without AI, I don’t think crypto would be going through this bull market,” he says.
Hyperscaler capital spending and free cash flow (left), and forward valuations compared with the S&P 500 (right). Source: JPMorgan Asset Management
As a result of his thesis, he has expanded his own holdings beyond Bitcoin, Ether and Solana into a broader basket of tokens.
Visser’s three-decade career includes stints as managing director at Morgan Stanley and chief investment officer at Weiss Multi-Strategy Advisers. He now heads 22V’s AI Macro Nexus Research.
AI is crypto’s smartphone moment
The Wall Street veteran’s broader bet is that AI agents will allow people to instruct software to execute trades and other financial transactions on their behalf.
“AI agents are effectively the same as the App Store or the smartphone for crypto,” he says.
In that scenario, users would direct their agents while the software handles execution. The growing use of those agents will drive more activity in tokenized assets and crypto payments, extending the investment opportunity beyond the companies supplying computing power.
Related: AI potential to drive crypto demand remains ‘underappreciated’: BlackRock
But Visser’s crypto outlook still carries exposure to the AI trade he has grown more cautious about. He identifies a severe AI downturn that drags down equity markets as one threat to his bullish case.
“I don’t think that would end the bull market, but I definitely think it would retest the lows that we just saw,” he says.
The AI “fireworks show” is over
Visser says he began reducing his exposure to memory chipmaker Micron in mid-May after concluding that hedge funds and retail investors had crowded into the AI trade.
“One of the reasons that Bitcoin and Ethereum were having such a hard time is because the focus was completely on AI,” he says.
AI offered investors potentially greener pastures backed by rising business revenue. Microsoft’s quarterly report on April 29 claimed that its AI business was generating revenue at an annualized rate of $37 billion, more than double a year earlier. Meanwhile, Micron reported in March that its fiscal second-quarter revenue had nearly tripled to $23.86 billion.
But AI investors now face a less forgiving market, according to Visser. The 100-stock AI portfolio he tracks is up about 40% this year, but has become more volatile than Bitcoin on a rolling 126-day measure.
Related: Agents can trade 24/7 — but Yat Siu warns you could lose access at any time
Financing concerns have since hit AI infrastructure, as building them costs more than companies generate from their existing businesses at present.
For example, Oracle spent $55.7 billion on capital expenditures in fiscal 2026 against $32 billion in operating cash flow, and raised $43 billion in debt financing.
“I didn’t say AI was over. AI fireworks show is over,” Visser says.
He still sees several years of growth ahead in computing demand from AI agents, but says investors should temper their expectations for stock returns.
Visser widens his crypto bets
Until August, Visser’s crypto holdings consisted solely of Bitcoin, Ether and Solana. While Bitcoin remains his largest position, he has since started to acquire a broader range of tokens.
Dogecoin is a clear signal he watches for returning retail enthusiasm, which he considers essential to sustaining a broader rally.
“They’re the energy of the space and they’re the ones that are going to fuel this as other people get involved,” he says.
To track that broader market, Visser maintains an equally weighted index of 42 tokens and four publicly traded stocks. He says it has outperformed Bitcoin since June and plans to hold all its constituents.
Privacy is a theme he has already invested in.
“I’m not betting on one company, but I believe in privacy,” Visser says.
He says AI will make privacy and identity protection more important as fraud and other forms of abuse grow. Zcash and Monero among projects that fit that investment thesis.
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