Grayscale Head of Research: Crypto to Penetrate Gaming, Virtual Reality

Space is shifting from digital money like bitcoin to DeFi and the metaverse.

article-image

David Grider, Grayscale Investments; Blockworks exclusive art by axel rangel

share

key takeaways

  • Crypto, with about 220 million users, has “long way to go” to reach potential as sectors such as DeFi have reached only a fraction of that audience
  • Grider expects crypto to be the next wave of the internet

Grayscale Investment’s head of research said at Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit in New York City last month that as crypto moves into the metaverse, it is going beyond NFTs into sectors such as gaming and virtual reality.

“I don’t know that we’re absolutely there yet, but there’s definitely a lot of interesting use cases that are being built out around that,” David Grider said. “As the industry matures and evolves, I think the tech and adoption will follow.”

Grider joined Grayscale in August after working for nearly two years as head of digital assets research at FundStrat Global Advisors. He had co-founded Aenigma Capital in 2017, an investment company focused on emerging technology ventures at the intersection of fintech and internet innovation. 

The head of research noted that he expects crypto to be the next wave of the internet. While the internet has billions of users, Grider said, crypto users are estimated at 220 million, and those within DeFi total between 1 million and 3 million.

“If you’re thinking about the runway from that perspective,” Grider said, “I think that the whole space has a long way to go.”

Watch the full interview below and watch all of the panel videos from DAS here


Are you a UK or EU reader that can’t get enough investor-focused content on digital assets? Join us in London on November 15th and 16th for the Digital Asset Summit (DAS) London. Use code ARTICLE for £75 off your ticket. Buy it now.


Tags

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 18 - 20, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research

article-image

Crypto’s calls are equally as juiced as puts, creating a “smile” in the volatility surface

article-image

Turns out that owning the end-user via a crypto wallet is quite a prosperous business

article-image

The announcement followed growing speculation that Gensler would announce his exit before Trump takes office next year

article-image

HashKey Capital’s Jupiter Zheng highlighted three success areas he’s watching: Ethereum, Solana and certain tokens in DeFi

article-image

Jack explored the various AI and memecoin projects that have sprung up over the past month

article-image

If gold remains steady today, a single move from bitcoin to $98,500 would do it