The Rollup Why DAT Mania Is Dead And What Comes Next With Haseeb Qureshi
Oct 24, 2025
Haseeb Qureshi, a partner at Dragonfly and seasoned crypto investor, joins to delve into the decline of DAT mania and its implications for retail speculation. He explains why current market movers are mostly institutional players, and why user-generated prediction markets are unlikely to succeed. Haseeb also critiques the limitations of upcoming ETFs for long-tail assets and discusses the dynamics surrounding stablecoins and banking. Lastly, he highlights the competitive landscape in sports betting, weighing in on Polymarket vs. Kalshi.
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DAT Mania Ended By Math And Retail Exhaustion
- DAT mania has faded because new DAT fundraises collapsed and retail money dried up, leaving only a few names (MicroStrategy, BitMine) dominating volume.
- MNAV compression makes persistent large premiums mathematically unsustainable as issuers can keep minting shares until premiums vanish.
ETFs Need Big Distribution To Matter
- Long-tail ETF launches likely won't move markets much unless a major distributor like BlackRock leads them.
- The initial ETH ETF underperformed until the underlying asset rallied, so ETF issuance alone isn't a guaranteed catalyst.
Fundamentals Good, Retail Bid Weakens Alts
- Crypto fundamentals are strong but "animal spirits" are low because retail was cash-drained by recent deleveraging.
- Institutions concentrate on Bitcoin (and some ETH), leaving alts to struggle without retail hot money.