Capitalogix

My Best Investment ...

My kids are getting older. In fact, not only are they both adults, but they're both married. Father's Day looks a little different than it used to. 

 

 

As I look back, I realize that there was an investment I made that paid off in a big way, and I want to share it with you.

Like many parents, I wanted to teach my children that, to a large extent, they control what happens to them. One of the first ways I did that was to set up a "compensation system" for them to earn video games.

Some parents try to limit the amount of time their kids spend watching TV or playing video games. I tried something different. Instead, my kids earned their games by reading books. Here is a photo from way back then.

Paid With Play.

Here's how it worked. When they were younger, 10 books were enough to earn a small game. When they finished a book, it was their right, and my obligation, to take them to the bookstore for us to pick up the next book together. Likewise, when they finished the requisite number of books, it was their right, and my obligation, to take them to the computer store or game store for them to choose any game they wanted.

When they finished a hundred books, they got a bonus of earning the next game system. That meant if they had a Nintendo, they could now also get a PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360.

How Can You Encourage a Jump to the Next Level?

There came a point when I wanted one of my sons to start reading grown-up books. He was comfortable reading a certain type of book, and didn't want to read the kind of books that I read. So, I created a bonus system that counted a particular book as three books. I didn't force him; I just let the easier path to a reward "whisper" in his ear what to read. Once he finished that, he never went back to teen fiction.

It Is a Great Way to Learn About Your Kids.

I also used the bookstore visits to gauge how the boys were doing. For example, I might say, "I notice that you read five books in that series, maybe you'd like this book". Or, "That sure is a lot of science fiction; what was the last biography you read?"  For the most part, though, I didn't care what they read. The key was to get them to want to choose certain books for their own reasons. Ultimately, their preference meant they were learning to love reading.

It Puts Them In Control of Their Destiny and Rewards.

My younger son likes competition. He also broke or misplaced many things. So, to earn back the Game Boy unit he lost, I challenged him to read five books in five days. These weren't easy books either. It was designed to stretch him, and also to teach him that he could read a book a night. The bet was that he either finished all the books in the allocated time, or none of them counted towards games or Game Boys. On the other hand, if he read a book a night for two weeks, not only would he get his Game Boy back, but the books would also count towards a game. It worked like a charm, and we were both happy.

So, Who Got the Better Bargain?

As they started to get into their teenage years, I needed to up the ante a little. So, 500 books meant they got a laptop of their choice. Both boys cashed in, and probably felt like they were taking advantage of their dad.

I got what I wanted, though; both my boys love reading, and know that they can accomplish anything they put their minds to … one step at a time.

Here is a recent picture of us.   All of us love reading ... and none of us needs diapers.

 

Speaking of diapers, I've leveled up to become a grandfather. Watching my oldest become a father is the ultimate dividend.

I still remember my father joking with me to be careful of what I said about him, because I would have kids who would do the same to me.

Watching my granddaughter grow, explore, and enjoy the world is an incredible blessing. 

Plus, I know Karma is a Bitch. ... wait till she starts using everything she's learned against him.

It is part of the cycle of life ... just like diapers.

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading - June 15th, 2025

Here are some of the posts that caught my eye recently. Hope you find something interesting.

Lighter Links:

• Watching this Humanoid Robot Sort Packages is Quite Something. (Futurism)
• Israel's Strike on Iran Was 8 Months in the Making. (Axios)
• Why Jamie Dimon Believes in Healthy Paranoia. (Inc)
• Mark Zuckerberg is Reportedly Absolutely Furious at His Own Failure. (Futurism)
• Terrorist Attacks Show How the U.S. Is Losing the Culture War – And How What Got Us Into This Situation Can Help Get Us Out. (WashingtonTimes)

 

Trading Links:

• OpenAI Reaches $10B in Annual Recurring Revenue as ChatGPT Adoption Accelerates. (SiliconAngle)
• Can Robots Beat the Wolves of Wall Street? (LeMonde)
• The Economy is Made Up. And the Market Isn't Magic ... It's Madness. (Litverse)
• Trump Knocks California on Its Heels: 'He's Pulling the Trigger on Everything All at Once.' (Politico)
• Trump's Financial Disclosures Reveal Millions in Income from Guitars, Bibles, Watches, and Crypto with His Name on Them. (NBCNews)

Major Asset Class Performance Since 2020

Last week, we highlighted the growth of cryptocurrencies. This week, we're taking a look at the performance of various asset classes during the previous 5 years - including Bitcoin. 

To start, let's get a sense of where things stand year-to-date.

This has been a "strange" year. As someone who follows Markets, I'm still surprised by how many times I'm tempted to say that.

In addition, I'm also surprised by how well global assets have fared year-to-date.

Here's a high-level overview.

via CapitalSpectator.

After a seemingly significant string of losses, U.S. stocks experienced a surprising rebound in May, marking their first monthly gain since January. This upturn propelled U.S. equities to the top of the performance leaderboard among major asset classes during the month. The rally was driven by broad strength across global markets, though some segments, particularly bonds in developed markets, faced declines.

Equities and bonds typically have an inverse relationship. Recently, both markets have been reacting sharply — stocks up, bonds down. This dynamic reflects uncertainty. The market is balancing hope and fear simultaneously — hope in economic recovery and corporate earnings, and fear of tighter monetary policy.

Game theory suggests that the conflicting incentives between growth-focused and risk-averse investors create a dynamic equilibrium sustaining this paradox. However, this brings up an uncomfortable question for investors:

 

What if the erosion of bonds’ safe haven triggers a systemic liquidity crisis when protection is most needed?

 

That is where a longer-term lens is particularly helpful, both for providing context and offering insights into portfolio mix and diversification strategies.

The infographic illustrates how major asset classes performed each year over five years, highlighting the impact of external shocks and policy changes. It emphasizes the importance of diversification by showing how different assets respond uniquely to economic shifts, enabling investors to identify risks and opportunities in recent market cycles.

 

via Visual Capitalist.

Bitcoin has performed better than I expected during the past five years, attracting both institutional and retail investors. Meanwhile, gold has seen renewed interest as falling interest rates and easing political uncertainty have led some investors to seek safer assets, reflecting a shift toward lower risk tolerance in segments of the market.

It's interesting to see the dichotomy between these two asset classes and their growth, despite their almost inverse profiles. 

Meanwhile, 2025 has been a rocky year for many asset classes. If you like potentially meaningful (but likely meaningless) factoids, 2025 has seen the S&P 500's fifth-worst start to a year in history. 

It will be interesting to see how the rest of this year plays out. 

Is Crypto Going Mainstream in 2025?

Humans are good at recognizing significant changes on the horizon, but not nearly as good at understanding the second and third-order consequences of those changes.

A great example is the Internet. As it spread, most adults understood that it would bring “big changes”. However, even as a tech entrepreneur at the time, I didn’t fully grasp what the rise of the Internet would cause or make possible.

I feel the same way today about the rise of AI. It literally will change everything.

Close behind that is what’s happening in Crypto.  

 

Where Attention Goes, Money Flows

I don’t claim to be a crypto expert or fan. Historically, I’ve been skeptical and resistant on many levels. Nevertheless, I've always argued the blockchain was here to stay. Now, even Crypto seems to be becoming an inevitability.

Governments are becoming supporters. Regulators are falling in line. Big banks and industry are building infrastructure. New giants are forming. Coinbase recently joined the S&P 500. Circle just had a wildly successful IPO. And the performance of stocks like these hints at the growing market appetite for crypto businesses.

Currently, Crypto’s market cap is over $3 trillion. At the beginning of Trump’s presidency, the cryptocurrency markets experienced a significant surge. Since Donald Trump’s re-election in November 2024, Bitcoin has surged 60 percent, reaching record highs. However, Bitcoin isn’t the only cryptocurrency experiencing a surge; even meme coins are seeing a massive increase in value. 

Nevada recently hosted a Bitcoin conference, featuring speakers such as Vice President JD Vance, Trump’s two eldest sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, as well as White House crypto advisor David Sacks. 

Despite the growth (and Trump’s support), there are still mainstream obstacles ... obstacles that may be addressed by increased investment in stablecoins. For context, countries such as the UAE and Vietnam boast higher rates of cryptocurrency ownership than the United States. 

 

Stablecoins Are Rising

A stablecoin is a type of cryptocurrency designed to maintain a stable value, typically pegged to a reference asset like a fiat currency (e.g., U.S. dollar) or a commodity (e.g., gold). This contrasts with other cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, which can experience significant price fluctuations. They serve many purposes, but ultimately believe they’re an interesting way to store value on-chain and take steps into the crypto world. 

The stablecoin market in 2025 is dominated by a handful of major platforms and issuers, recognized for their scale, transparency, and integration into both traditional finance and decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystems. The two largest and most respected stablecoin platforms are Tether and Circle.

 

    Tether (USDT)

•Market Position: Tether remains the largest stablecoin by market capitalization, with over $140 billion in circulation and controlling more than 60% of the stablecoin market.

•Key Features: USDT is widely used across centralized exchanges, DeFi protocols, and global payment networks. It is primarily backed by U.S. Treasury bills and managed by Cantor Fitzgerald, providing a reserve base comparable to that of major national treasuries.

 

    Circle (USDC)

•Market Position: USDC is the second-largest stablecoin, with a market cap exceeding $60 billion.

•Key Features: Known for its transparency, Circle publishes weekly attestations of reserves, which are held in cash and short-term U.S. government treasuries.

 

Stablecoin funding is projected to 10X.

 

CBInsights via Voronoi

When cryptocurrency started to gain popularity, I expressed concerns about how banks and governments would resist widespread adoption until they could introduce regulation and gain control over it. I remember confidently saying that, throughout history, governments have always protected the right to print and tax coin. That is still true ... it just means something different to me, now, than it did when I said it.

I’m starting to pay more attention to Crypto, blockchain, and other emerging DeFi technologies.

I’m seeing an increasing flow of talent, opportunities, and resources to this space.

For example, major payment players like Mastercard and Visa are allowing stablecoin transactions and even creating their own coins. 

I do believe growth in stablecoins will also result in growth in other forms of cryptocurrency as well. 

For context, here are the best-performing cryptocurrencies of 2024. 

 

via VisualCapitalist

I still won’t pretend to be knowledgeable about the various coins, but I recognize that they are becoming more common and useful as speculation markets. 

All in all, I believe we are witnessing the birth of another blue ocean, and we can expect increased attention and investment to continue.

Onwards! 

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading - June 8th, 2025

Here are some of the posts that caught my eye recently. Hope you find something interesting.

Lighter Links:

• I Asked 30+ AI Experts to Reveal What They Wish Someone Had Told Them When Using AI. (AIMaker)
• Your Smartphone is a Parasite, According to Evolution. (TheConversation)
• Zero to One: Why Competing is a Trap and What Great Founders Do Differently. (FedericoLorenzon)
• The Three Laws of Love, and How to Follow Them. (BigThink)
• 'Final Frontier In Medicine' Unlocked? 'Pausing' Cell Death Could Slow Aging, Cancer, Brain Degeneration (StudyFinds)

 

Trading Links:

• Circle's Buzzy IPO Was a Big Hit. Now Comes the Hard Part. (MarketWatch)
• The Dollar is Collapsing—Don’t Lose Everything!. (ParetoInvestor)
• Elon Musk Suffers the Second-Biggest Wealth Loss in Human History. (VanityFair)
• Why Elon Musk’s Attack on Trump Might Be a Genius Move. (Forbes)
• Musk's xAI Is Trying to Borrow $5 Billion While His Relationship With Trump Blows Up. Bankers Worry the Fight Will Affect Ongoing Deals. (WSJ)

Trying to Understand Happiness ...

I am often amazed at how little human nature has changed throughout recorded history.

Despite the exponential progress we’ve made in health, wealth, society, tools, and understanding ... we still struggle to find meaning, purpose, and happiness in our lives and our existence.

Last month, I shared an article on Global Happiness Levels in 2025. Here are a few bullets that summarize the findings: 

• We underestimate others’ kindness, but it’s more common than we think.
• Community boosts happiness—eating and living with others matter.
• Despair is falling globally, except in isolated, low-trust places like the U.S.
• Hope remains—trust and happiness can rebound with connection and a sense of purpose.

Upon reflection, that post didn’t attempt to define happiness. This post will focus on how to do that.

While it seems like a simple concept, happiness is complex. We know many things that contribute to and detract from it; we know humans strive for it, but it is still surprisingly challenging to put a uniform definition on it. 

A few years ago, a hobbyist philosopher analyzed 93 philosophy books, spanning from 570 BC to 1588, in an attempt to find a universal definition of Happiness. Here are those findings.

 

via Reddit.

It starts with a simple list of definitions from various philosophers. It does a meta-analysis to create some meaningful categories of definition. Then it presents the admittingly subjective conclusion that:

 

Happiness is to accept and find harmony with reason. 

 

My son, Zach, pointed out that while “happiness” is a conscious choice, paradoxically, the “pursuit of happiness” often results in unhappiness. Why? Because happiness is a result of acceptance. However, when happiness is the goal, you often focus on what you’re lacking instead of what you already have. You start to live in the ‘Gap’ instead of the ‘Gain’. 

So, it got me thinking – and that got me to play around with search and AI, a little, to broaden my data sources and perspectives. If you would like to view the raw data, here are the notes I compiled (along with the AI-generated version of what this article could have been, had it been left to AI, rather than me and Zach).

Across centuries, philosophers have wrestled with a deceptively simple question: What does it mean to live a good life?

 

As entrepreneurs, investors, and leaders, we often chase performance, innovation, or edge — but underneath it all, there’s a quieter inquiry: Am I living well?

 

Happiness aside, across 93 influential philosophical texts spanning two millennia, one word consistently reappears: Eudaimonia. This is not happiness in the modern sense of pleasure, but a richer concept of human flourishing — a life filled with purpose, virtue, and meaning.

 

• Ancient thinkers saw happiness not as a mood, but as a life aligned with purpose and virtue.
• Some prioritized inner character; others emphasized harmony with the divine or nature.
• Debate endures over the role of external goods — wealth, luck, friends.
• During the Renaissance, the conversation shifted toward subjective experience.
• Across eras, the thread remains: Happiness is cultivated, not consumed.

 

Contradictions and Tensions

Thoughts on happiness contain paradoxes, contradictions, and tensions. Examining the boundaries between what you are certain of and what you are uncertain of is where insights occur. Here are a few to get you started.

 

• Virtue vs. External Goods: Aristotle acknowledges external goods (wealth, friends) as necessary for complete happiness, while Stoics claim virtue alone suffices. This tension challenges the simplicity of virtue-based happiness, suggesting a nuanced balance between inner character and outer circumstances.
• Subjective vs. Objective Happiness: Ancient philosophers often defined happiness as an objective state (living virtuously or intellectually flourishing), whereas modern definitions more often emphasize the subjective satisfaction varying by individual. This tension probes whether happiness is a universal or personal experience.
• Happiness as Pleasure vs. Happiness as Duty/Struggle: Epicureanism equates happiness with pleasure (absence of pain), but Cynics and Stoics emphasize enduring hardship and discipline as the path to happiness, which presents a paradox between comfort and resilience.

 

Three Metaphors To Help You Think About Happiness

Metaphors help make abstract ideas more concrete, memorable, and easier to grasp. Here are three to consider.

 

The Ship Captain (Stoicism)

• Metaphor: You can’t control the ocean (external events), but you can steer your ship (your mind). 
• Clarification: Highlights control over internal states despite external chaos.

The Team Soul (Plato’s Tripartite Soul)

• Metaphor: The soul is a team where reason is the coach, spirit is the player, and appetite is the goalie. Happiness is achieved when the coach directs the players well. 
• Clarification: Demonstrates the importance of internal harmony and self-governance.

The Garden (Aristotle’s Life Cultivation)

• Metaphor: Happiness is like tending a garden over time — it requires continuous effort, nurturing virtues (soil quality), and sometimes external help (sunlight, rain). 
• Clarification: This shows happiness as a process, not a momentary state.

Reach out – I’m curious to hear what you think!

Make Way For 2025's Biggest Unicorns

Billion-dollar startups are becoming increasingly common with VC funding surging, and an increased focus on exponential technologies. 

VisualCapitalist put together an infographic based on May's PitchBook that highlights the newest Unicorns.

If you are curious, PitchBook defines Unicorns as venture-backed companies valued at $1 billion or more after a funding round, until they go public, get acquired, or drop below that valuation.

Here is the list for 2025.

 

Pitchbook via visualcapitalist

Topping the list (and eclipsing every other company on the list) is Yangtze Memory out of China. They're focused on flash memory and solid-state drives. Yup, that's still a thing.

Also high on the list is Abridge, an American AI startup focused on turning doctors' conversations with patients into documentation. If you've ever talked with a clinician of any sort, you know how time-consuming documentation currently is. The combination of AI and longevity—or age reversal—is likely to become an increasingly hot area for investment.

Meanwhile, a rising tide floats many boats ... and with the continuing rise of funding in AI, you'll also find a growing list of AI unicorns, like Peregrine, Synthesia, AnySphere, Mercor, and The Bot Company. 

Although these individual companies are interesting, the larger trend is probably more significant. 

There have been 43 new unicorns in 2025 alone. And while the most profitable unicorns from 2024 are still OpenAI, ByteDance, and SpaceX, their competition is on the rise.

I've been a tech entrepreneur for decades, so I'm used to the constant march of progress. But this feels different. The pace is quickening!

We certainly live in interesting times!

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading - June 1st, 2025

Here are some of the posts that caught my eye recently. Hope you find something interesting.

Lighter Links:

• Humanity May Achieve the Singularity Within the Next 6 Months, Scientists Suggest. (PopularMechanics)
• An Internal OpenAI Doc Reveals Exactly How ChatGPT May Become Your "Super-Assistant" Very Soon. (LaptopMag)
• How Far Will AI Go to Defend Its Own Survival? (NBCNews)
• You Can Buy a 'Peeing' Robot Attack Dog From Temu. It Is Even Weirder Than You'd Expect. (Wired)
• Why 'Saturday Night Live' Has Endured 50 Years. (CurrentAffairs)

 

Trading Links:

• Powell Asserts Fed Independence in Meeting With Trump. Did the President Get the Message? (Fortune)
• Autocratic Capitalism: An Introduction. (Daily)
• U.S. and China's Combined GDP Equals 184 Countries. (VisualCapitalist)
• China Responds After Hegseth Warns to Prepare for War – Criticizes U.S. for Having a "Cold War Mentality". (UPI)
• $TRUMP and Other Meme Coins Won't Be Protected by SEC, Commissioner Hester Peirce Says. (CNBC)

Relics Of A Bygone Era ...

The U.S. Treasury is ceasing production of pennies - as they cost more to make than they’re worth.

According to a 2024 report from the U.S. Mint, we lose $85M a year minting pennies, as they cost 3.69 cents to make. 

That makes the phrase “penny wise and pound foolish” officially passé - at least in America. 

 

 

Many phrases like this still exist. It’s an interesting example of the power of language. Words take on meaning beyond their original usage ... and often remain relevant long after their origin has become irrelevant. 

For example:

• Burning the midnight oil means working hard, but it comes from a time before electricity, when you had to use candles and lamps to light a room after dark. 
• Time to face the music refers to dealing with the consequences of one’s actions, but originates from a time when disgraced military officers had to face a drumline upon discharge.
• More recently, hang-ups were what you did when you replaced a phone receiver in its cradle. Now, you can only really find a desk phone in an office. Even then, you don’t need to place it in its cradle to hang it up. 
• Put a sock in it comes from the act of putting a sock into the trumpet of a gramophone.
• And Stereotypes come from a type of printing plate commonly used in old-school newspaper publishing. While it still refers to impressions ... the origin is lost on the average user of this word. Filming is rarely done on film; footage is from when film was measured in feet and frames, and you don’t need to stay tuned because your television doesn’t need to be tuned to receive the channels you like. 

Until recently, technologies (and the phrases they spawned) lasted for decades, if not longer. As technology evolves at an ever-accelerating pace, new tools, platforms, and ways of communicating emerge almost daily. With these innovations come fresh slang, buzzwords, and cultural references that often catch on quickly—think “DM me,” “ghosting,” or “cloud computing.” Yet just as rapidly as they rise, many of these terms fade into obscurity, replaced by the next wave of trends. What was once cutting-edge can become outdated in a matter of years, if not months. This cycle of innovation and obsolescence is a hallmark of the modern digital era.

However, much like these old idioms, the fleeting nature of these technologies and jobs doesn’t mean they lack value or impact. Some expressions endure because they capture something universally human—emotion, conflict, humor—even if the context changes. Similarly, technologies may evolve, but their core functions or purposes often remain. The fax machine gives way to email, and email to instant messaging—but the need for communication is constant.

This principle also applies to work and tools. While job titles and methods may change, the underlying skills — such as critical thinking, collaboration, and creativity — remain timeless. A carpenter today might use laser-guided saws instead of hand tools, just as a marketer might use data analytics instead of intuition alone, but the essence of their work persists. Innovation reshapes how we do things, not always what we do.

Just as enduring phrases carry forward old meanings in new settings, so too will jobs, tools, and skills adapt and survive.

Onwards!

The Rise of AI Art and Its Implications

The last time I talked about AI Art specifically was in 2022 when Dall-E was just gaining steam. Before that, it was 2019, when AI self-portraits were going viral. 

On both occasions, it still felt like the relative infancy of the technology. I compared it to VR getting another 15 minutes of fame. 

The images at the time weren’t fantastic, but it was a massive step in AI’s ability to understand and translate text into a coherent graphic response. The algorithms still didn’t really “understand” the meaning of images the way we do, and they were guessing based on what they had seen before - which was much less than today’s algorithms have seen. They were also much worse at interpreting images. As such, when you tried to use AI to recreate an image, there were a lot of hallucinations. The algorithms were essentially a brute-force application of math masquerading as intelligence. 

 

Fortunately, AI imagery has come a long way since then. However, with that improvement comes more ethical concerns. 

The rise of AI-generated art has sparked a complex and ongoing ethical debate, with compelling arguments on both sides. At the heart of the discussion lies the question of authorship, originality, and the impact of automation on human creativity and labor.

Proponents of AI art argue that it represents a powerful extension of human imagination. Just as past innovations—such as photography, digital editing, or sampling in music—were initially met with skepticism, Advocates argue AI-generated art is simply the next evolution in the artistic toolkit, and it democratizes access to artmaking. As a result, those with less skill - or time - can explore new styles, generate concepts, and be creative in a new form. To this end, they see AI not as a threat but as a collaborator—another brush or chisel in an artist’s hand.

However, critics raise concerns about the ethical implications of AI art, particularly in how these models are trained. Many AI systems are built on vast datasets scraped from the internet, including artwork by human creators who were neither consulted nor compensated, leading to accusations of IP theft. Moreover, they argue it sets a dangerous precedent where creative works can be replicated and commodified without consent or attribution. Lastly, on the idea of democratization, they would argue that art is already accessible to all and that people should be willing to explore skills not only to be good at them but to enjoy them. 

 

 

The most recent trend has been a great example of this argument. The launch of OpenAI’s new image generator, powered by GPT-4, has empowered users to transform their photos into various famous media themes - like Renaissance paintings or  Studio Ghibli anime images - which ironically goes against the ethos of Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki. The studio is known for its commitment to the craft, with carefully animated and hand-drawn scenes. Their films are known for glorifying nature and living in harmony with it. Miyazaki also believes that AI art is disrespectful to the “life” found in human-created art. 

 

“I feel like we are nearing the end times. We humans are losing faith in ourselves.” - Hayao Miyazaki 

 

I’m a massive fan of AI - and even AI art ... but as the technology continues to evolve, society must grapple with how to integrate these tools in ways that honor both progress and the rights of the artists (and people) whose work—and livelihoods—may be at stake.

What do you think?