Jason Fang, founder of cryptocurrency investment firm Sora Ventures, recently offered unique perspectives on market trends and Bitcoin’s untapped potential, drawn from his firsthand experience across multiple crypto cycles.
Fang highlighted how quickly the crypto market can pivot, noting that DeFi and NFT mania went mainstream within two years despite early skepticism. Fang believes Bitcoin development is progressing faster than many realize and will similarly surprise skeptics.
Recalling the past bear markets, Fang described how the Bitcoin price plunged, and his fund dropped 80% at one point, an atypical story in crypto that year. However, Fang managed to survive as a part of only a “handful” of other ‘web3’ funds in Asia at the time.
However, Fang expressed conviction in Bitcoin‘s resilience and indicated the panacea to its volatility, saying, “If Bitcoin goes to zero, then the entire Web3 industry goes to zero.” He contrasted Bitcoin’s battle-tested network to newer chains like Solana and Avalanche that haven’t experienced a bear market.
From its foundations, Fang sees Bitcoin at over $200,000 achieved through increased on-chain utility as he compared Bitcoin to Ethereum in 2017. With Bitcoin having a limited dApp ecosystem today versus Ethereum having similar numbers back when it was $80, he believes a 10-20x Bitcoin price gain is achievable as Bitcoin utility grows.
In the interview, Fang elaborated on specific areas where he expects to see expanded utility built on top of Bitcoin.
He pointed to the development of BRC-20 tokens as a major area of interest and excitement, especially in Asian crypto communities. Fang believes the first major BRC-20 project successfully launched and listed on top exchanges would spark tremendous interest and further development.
Beyond tokens, Fang sees parallels to Ethereum in Bitcoin’s ability to mimic many of the same decentralized finance and NFT use cases, albeit built with different technical stacks. He emphasized that while the path will diverge from Ethereum, Bitcoin will ultimately be capable of delivering similar utility to users.
Overall, Fang’s perspective highlights the breadth of potential he sees in Bitcoin to move far beyond just a store of value into a thriving ecosystem for new blockchain-based applications.
Who is Jason Fang?
Fang’s early exposure to entrepreneurship began in college, where he started an “Uber for tutoring” platform despite having no formal computer science education. Driven to build his idea, Fang taught himself to code over several months.
After graduation, Fang joined Fenbushi Capital, an early cryptocurrency venture capital firm where Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin was also involved. This opportunity introduced Fang to the emerging world of blockchain technology and crypto assets.
In 2017, Fang founded Sora Ventures and began investing in Ethereum-based tokens and projects. However, when the crypto bear market hit in 2018, the value of Sora’s investments dropped 80%, while many other crypto funds folded at the time, as mentioned previously.
Despite this setback, Fang persevered by buying out dissatisfied investors to give Sora more time to recoup losses. He also made prudent exits during the following bull market. Thanks to Fang’s persistence and strategic moves, Sora emerged in a strong position coming out of the bear market years.
In 2023, Sora has pivoted to focus heavily on Bitcoin investments, becoming the most active institutional investor in Bitcoin startups year to date. The firm led a $3 million investment in Bitcoin Magazine’s new crypto fund and sponsored the Bitcoin Startup Lab hackathon with $50,000, the largest Bitcoin hackathon prize this year.
When asked why he is so optimistic about Bitcoin, Fang said he sees “huge potential as it gets more developers and apps built on top of it, like Ethereum has.” He believes Bitcoin’s price could easily explode from today’s levels as utility expands.
Fang advises new Bitcoin entrepreneurs that “Bitcoin will be a big game changer in the next wave. The use cases now are just the beginning.” He encourages visionaries to get involved early and build the next generation of Bitcoin applications.
Fang’s undeterred spirit after setbacks, sharp strategic pivots, and proactive investments in the Bitcoin ecosystem offer invaluable lessons for newcomers. His personal journey typifies the grit required to drive innovation on emerging technologies like Bitcoin.
Disclosure: Sora Ventures is an investor in CryptoSlate.
