12: Larry Lepard ON: Gold, Silver and Bitcoin as Sound Investments

In this episode of The Block Reward, host Scott speaks with Larry Lepard, a career investment manager who focuses on sound money and manages funds related to gold, silver and Bitcoin. They discuss the pros and cons of gold, silver and Bitcoin, the state of the global financial system, inflation and the need for sound investments to protect against currency debasement. Larry shares insights on the potential of a sovereign debt crisis, as well as his journey from being a venture capitalist to investing in monetary metals and Bitcoin. Larry founded Equity Management Associates, LLC (EMA) in 2006. EMA is an equity investment management firm that invests in growing private and public companies located around the world. Since 2008, EMA has focused on investing in companies that mine the monetary metals, gold and silver. Larry presently serves on the Board of Directors of two development-stage gold mining companies: Lavras Gold Corp. (Toronto/Brazil) and Rise Gold Corp. (California). He has been a frequent guest of many media outlets including Bloomberg Television for his expertise on the monetary metals market. Prior to founding EMA, he spent 13 years at Geocapital Partners (Geo) in Fort Lee, NJ. There, he was one of two Managing General Partners and was responsible for four venture capital funds, aggregating ~$500 million. At Geo, he invested and/or served on the boards of many successful deals including Autoweb, Jackson Hewitt, Netcom, and Realtor.com. Prior to Geo, Larry spent seven years at Summit Partners in Boston, MA and Newport Beach, CA, where he established Summit’s West Coast office. Larry was a General Partner in Summit I and Summit II and invested and/or served on the boards of Chips & Technologies and Software Spectrum, among other investments. Earlier in his career, Larry worked in the Mergers & Acquisitions Group of Smith Barney, Harris Upham & Co. What We Discuss: (00:01:10) What are the pros and cons of gold, silver and Bitcoin as they relate to each other? (00:08:39) The Keynesian economic system flaws, which prioritizes growth over efficiency and fails to address the importance of sound money and correct pricing. (00:09:30) A broken monetary system contributes to the mispricing of goods. (00:10:16) Past and present interest rates. (00:11:18) A collapse and default on debt, or print more money and face massive inflation? (00:18:52) History of currency debasement in various countries and the potential risk of the US dollar losing value. (00:20:34) Comparison of gold, silver and Bitcoin as alternative investments to protect against currency debasement. (00:26:52) Bitcoin's provable scarcity and the benefits and differences compared to monetary metals. (00:29:30) Bitcoin is unique in that it has a fixed supply. How is this different from monetary metals like gold, which respond to price changes? (00:35:48) The current stage of Bitcoin's adoption to the early days of the internet and the potential for rapid growth once it reaches a certain adoption rate. (00:37:06) The potential impact of Bitcoin ETF approval on the market, including the influx of institutional money and the need for easier access to Bitcoin for retail investors. (00:38:18) Bitcoin has a limited supply and that has the potential to impact the price when lost coins, long-term holders and the amount of tradable Bitcoin available for sale are taken into account. (00:39:44) Analysis of the current market cap of bitcoin compared to global financial assets, and the potential for significant price increases if even a small percentage of those assets were allocated to bitcoin. (00:45:15) The risk and potential gains of investing in Bitcoin. (00:47:03) The concept of holding Bitcoin without the intention of converting it back to fiat currency. (00:54:18) Understanding the severity of the current global financial system. (00:55:19) The broken state of the current financial system. Episode Resources: EMA | Website Larry Lepard | Twitter