Video Source: "Exclusive with Delphi Digital’s Anil Lulla: Research, Crypto, AI, and the Future of Investing!"

Guests: Anil Lulla, CEO of Delphi Digital

Hosts: Jagdish; Sushil Sanghvi, Crypto Researcher

Compiled & Translated by: Deep Tide TechFlow

Background Information

In this special episode, we had an in-depth conversation with Anil Lulla, co-founder of Delphi Digital. Delphi Digital is one of the most respected research and investment companies in the crypto field. Anil shared his extraordinary journey from Wall Street to building a $5 billion crypto giant. We delved into Delphi's unique research process, the future of crypto AI, how to navigate complex market cycles, and why Anil is more bullish on cryptocurrencies than ever before. He also revealed the top projects he is keeping an eye on and brought a huge giveaway for our audience. Don't miss this exclusive conversation with one of the top figures in the field!

From Wall Street to the Crypto Field

Anil Lulla shared his experience of transitioning from the traditional finance world to the crypto field. He mentioned that he has been passionate about business and technology since childhood, and his father foresaw that he would not work for others.

While studying finance, Anil gradually developed a strong interest in using mathematics to predict business changes.

Challenges and Opportunities of Entrepreneurship

Anil recalled the team's attempt to raise $20 million to establish a venture capital fund in 2019. Despite facing rejections from investors, they persisted in their beliefs and launched the fund using 0% interest credit cards. Eventually, they successfully expanded the fund to $5 to $6 billion, forming an internal family office model without external investors' interference.

Regrets of Investors

When discussing the relationship with investors, Anil mentioned that although they had not met the investor who rejected them, there had been communication between them. The investor expressed that it was the biggest mistake of his life.

Anil's experience emphasizes the importance of sticking to beliefs in the face of difficulties and finding opportunities in adversity.

Secret: How Delphi Predicts Crypto Trends in Advance

Research Advantage of Delphi

Anil stated that Delphi's research team is excellent and can identify potential opportunities in crypto trends before they are widely discussed.

Anil emphasized that when recruiting team members, they prioritize those who are passionate and curious about the crypto field and create ideal roles for them to freely express themselves.

Core Principles of Research

Anil mentioned that Delphi's research team follows two main principles. First, the team always believes that "if it appears on Crypto Twitter, it's too late." This means they strive to find trends that have not been widely discussed to make investment decisions before others. Second, they require each report to be in-depth and unique, ensuring that the content is not mentioned by other sources. This approach gives Delphi an advantage in information density and uniqueness in their reports.

Personal Reading Habits

Anil also mentioned that he does not know the specific content of the research before it is released, and he downloads and reads the report for the first time after its release, especially during flights. He believes that this continuous learning and research enables him to keep up with the latest developments in the crypto field.

Crypto and AI: Why Delphi is Betting Big in this Area

Delphi's Investments in Crypto AI

Anil Lulla discussed Delphi Digital's recent active investments in the crypto AI field in the podcast. He mentioned that Delphi has made about 17 investments related to crypto AI and released as many as 15 episodes on this topic. This indicates Delphi's emphasis and forward-looking approach to this field.

Initial Skepticism and In-depth Research on AI

Anil recalled his initial skepticism about AI, thinking it was just a buzzword and might not necessarily bring practical products. However, as team members delved deeper into this field, he gradually gained confidence. In particular, some team members such as Tommy, Kane, and Ross helped him see the potential of combining crypto and AI.

Intersection of Crypto and AI

Anil believes that the construction of crypto infrastructure is not only to attract users but also to attract AI agents and robots. He pointed out that AI needs an open environment and multiple interfaces to interact with various protocols, and the decentralized nature of the crypto field perfectly meets this need. He believes that the combination of AI and crypto will provide huge opportunities for future innovation.

Team Collaboration and Diverse Perspectives

Anil emphasized that Delphi's success lies in the collaboration and communication within the team. The close connection between their research, investment, and lab departments allows experts in different fields to share viewpoints, leading to more comprehensive decision-making. This collaborative approach enables Delphi to maintain a leading position in the rapidly changing market.

Unexpected Events at Delphi Day

Anil Lulla introduced the unique event of Delphi Day, which they hold quarterly. On this day, team members are asked not to speak positively about Delphi but to speak freely, pointing out the company's shortcomings and areas for improvement.

Anil believes that this approach promotes open communication within the team, giving everyone the opportunity to express their views.

Format and Purpose of the Event

On Delphi Day, the team discusses the performance of various departments, including research, investment, and incubation. Anil explained that typically, everyone reflects on their own department and suggests improvements. This open discussion atmosphere helps team members realize their shortcomings and find opportunities for improvement.

Specific Cases

Anil shared a specific case about the gaming investment portfolio. During last year's Delphi Day event, the team discussed their investments in the gaming industry. Despite their continued optimism about the gaming industry, they realized that they had made many investments and needed to reassess whether to continue increasing their investments. During the discussion, the team invited some project leaders from the gaming investment portfolio to show the work in progress and the problems being solved. This interaction transformed Anil's initial pessimism into optimism and strengthened his confidence in gaming investments.

Self-criticism and Culture

Anil emphasized that Delphi values a culture of self-criticism and aims to continuously improve through this approach. They are willing to accept criticism from external sources but prefer to identify problems themselves and make improvements. This self-reflective attitude has become an important part of Delphi's culture, enabling them to stay ahead in the competitive crypto market.

Issues with Project Launch: How Legion Addresses These Problems

Current Market Challenges

Sushil mentioned that in the past six months, many new projects have struggled to maintain their listing prices, even some well-reputed projects face challenges. New projects often struggle with how to effectively conduct initial coin offerings (ICOs), initial decentralized offerings (IDOs), and other strategies, and have not found an ideal solution.

Anil believes that Delphi is working to address these issues, especially through their new project, Legion.

Anil introduced Legion, a new project that has just been publicly revealed from stealth mode, aiming to address the difficulties faced by new projects when they go public. The core concept of Legion is to start from the ground up and establish a scoring and resume system for investors, allowing non-accredited investors to participate in investments. Although facing more legal challenges in the United States, this model has the potential to be realized in Europe.

Reintroducing the ICO Model

A major highlight of Legion is its ability to allow projects to distribute in a more widespread manner and attract a diverse investor base, not just large venture capital firms. Anil believes that this approach can help projects go public more effectively and avoid potential value imbalances in traditional fundraising methods.

Synergy with Metallex

Anil also mentioned that Legion's sister company, Metallex, is a company focused on blockchain legal services. Gabriel Shapiro, the founder of Metallex, was a legal advisor to Delphi and now leads this project. Metallex will provide legal support for many projects, including on-chain governance, data partnerships, and protocols. Through collaboration with Delphi's lab team, Metallex will automate these legal services and integrate them into Legion, enhancing its functionality.

Future Outlook

Anil is confident about the future of Legion, believing that over time, Legion will become the premier project launch platform. While it may currently be seen as a launch platform, its functionality will continue to expand, ultimately providing more comprehensive support for projects. The launch of Legion is seen as an important step in addressing current market challenges, and its development and impact in the coming months are eagerly anticipated.

Evolving Crypto Cycles: Meme Coins, Solana, and Real-world Use Cases

Evolution of Market Cycles

Sushil mentioned that the cryptocurrency market has experienced several cycles with the launch of Ethereum. In the first cycle, all tokens were on the rise, while the second cycle saw tokens with stories and visions performing well. In the current cycle, investors are starting to differentiate between well-performing and underperforming projects, focusing more on actual performance rather than hollow dreams.

Anil sees this as a sign of market maturity but also raises the question of how to navigate in such an environment and the role of Delphi in it.

Anil's View of the Market

Anil reframed the concept of market cycles, stating that the second cycle was mainly the rise of DeFi, which brought real revenue models and business models to the field. Subsequently, the frenzy of gaming, metaverse, and NFTs also brought vitality to the market. He pointed out the importance of NFTs in bringing culture into the crypto world, despite the current market's waning enthusiasm for NFTs.

Current Market Dynamics

In the current cycle, Anil observed two main trends: the rise of Solana and the popularity of meme coins. Solana, as a highly liquid project, has attracted a lot of investor attention and has significant upside potential even at a price below $10. On the other hand, meme coins are seen as a leveraged tool without liquidation risk, with many investors buying meme coins to seek higher risk returns.

Impact of Meme Coins

Despite the significant attention meme coins have received in the market, Anil pointed out that the internal investment proportion of meme coins at Delphi is usually relatively low, averaging between 10% to 15%. This indicates that even in the meme coin frenzy, investors are not as confident in their long-term potential as they are in projects like Solana.

Anil believes this phenomenon reflects the complexity and diversity of the market.

Future Outlook

Anil is optimistic about the future, especially for important projects such as Celestia and Athena. He believes these projects are significant in the market and may bring unexpected surprises when launched at the right time. He emphasized that as a fundamental investor, he always believes in the importance of fundamentals and sees the market's maturity increasing over time.

Low Circulation and High FDV Dilemma

Jagdish raised an important topic in the current crypto market, the issue of low circulation and high FDV (Fully Diluted Valuation). He observed that large institutions are investing in ETFs such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, while venture capital (VC) tends to focus on infrastructure and fundamental projects. However, ordinary investors seem to be losing interest in VC tokens and turning to meme coins.

View on VC

Anil pointed out that many people criticize VC holdings, but he believes that the market's performance reflects investor behavior. He emphasized that many VCs are not guiding the market on how to launch tokens but are looking to make returns through investments. He believes that market makers and exchanges controlling prices may be the root cause of the problem.

Issue of Low Circulation and High FDV

Anil noted that the phenomenon of low circulation and high FDV is indeed a hotly debated topic. He believes that the ideal situation is high circulation and high FDV, but currently, many projects create excessive hype at launch, leading to their valuations being unreasonable, ultimately causing price declines, which harm both the community and the team. Therefore, he suggested that projects need to try different distribution methods.

Effective Distribution Strategies

Anil mentioned that he jokes with some clients that the best token distribution might be a "bad" distribution. He believes that launching tokens without hype, allowing the community to build from the ground up, would be more conducive to long-term development. He cited Synthetix and Chainlink as examples, explaining that early community members who entered at a low price remain loyal to the project because their investments have yielded substantial returns.

Changes in the Community

He also mentioned that the current community tends to be "mercenary," with investors not highly loyal to projects and switching to other projects when issues arise. Anil believes that projects need to attract more users with a long-term holding intention to reduce this short-term behavior.

Future Direction

In conclusion, Anil stated that the market will gradually self-adjust, especially when investors express dissatisfaction with projects with low circulation and high FDV. Projects will have to try new distribution models, such as Legion and Echo. Overall, despite current challenges, the relationship between projects and investors will improve as the market matures.

VC Exiting Too Early? Pros and Cons of Crypto Investments

Jagdish raised a question about the early exit of venture capital (VC) in the crypto field. He believes that this phenomenon has its benefits, as VCs can exit before the product finds product-market fit (PMF), attracting more investors to enter the market. However, this early exit also leads to the situation of high circulation and low FDV. He expressed confusion about whether this is a feature or a flaw.

Anil's View

Anil considered this to be a good question. He believes that everything has its pros and cons. In the crypto market, early exits are seen as a feature, which is one of the reasons why many people flock to the crypto market. Investors like the ability to achieve liquidity quickly and find ideas that some other investors may not fund.

Incentives for Teams and Investors

However, Anil also pointed out that when investors and teams receive substantial returns before the product finds PMF, they may lack the motivation to drive the product's success. Therefore, he suggested that teams could be incentivized by extending the lock-up period for investments or setting milestones. This is crucial for maintaining the team's motivation, as investors hope that the project will stick to its investment thesis. If the investment thesis changes, early liquidity may become a problem.

Bull Market or Bear Market? Why More Bullish Than Before

Sushil raised a hot topic about the current market, whether we are in a bull market or a bear market. He mentioned that many people are confused by the current "boring range" and asked Anil for his views on this, as well as when the start of a bull market might be expected.

Anil's View

Anil expressed his personal optimism about the current market, stating that it is the most promising period since he entered the crypto field. He believes that not only are there changes in the market and macro structures, but the regulatory framework in the crypto industry is also undergoing positive changes. He mentioned the long-awaited ETFs (Exchange-Traded Funds) are coming soon, and interest rates may soon decrease, providing positive signals for the market.

Impact of Political Factors

Anil also mentioned the upcoming elections and the candidates' attitudes toward cryptocurrencies. He believes that changes in the political environment could have a significant impact on the crypto market. For example, a friendly attitude toward cryptocurrencies from candidates like Trump and others may attract more supporters. He mentioned that Trump even mentioned the possibility of including Bitcoin in the national reserves, which was rarely discussed in the past.

Power of the Community

Anil believes that cryptocurrency holders are increasingly present among voters, making it impossible for politicians to ignore this group. He pointed out that cryptocurrency holders often become single-issue voters, forcing politicians to consider this factor when formulating policies.

Future Outlook

Overall, Anil is optimistic about the future. He believes that if good regulatory policies are put in place, it will bring new growth opportunities to the crypto market. He hopes to see politicians fulfill their promises rather than losing interest in cryptocurrency-related issues after being elected. While he admits to having low trust in politics, he believes that the current political environment provides a favorable backdrop for the crypto market.

Delphi's Three-Arm Strategy for Creating Alpha

Uniqueness of Delphi Research

Jagdish mentioned the uniqueness of Delphi's research, as they not only provide research reports but also have a "skin in the game" in investments – meaning the research team members also participate in investments, making their research more practical and actionable.

Anil believes that this approach makes the research more reliable because the researchers are not just writing reports; they are also looking for opportunities that can bring alpha to their investment portfolios.

Collaboration between Research and Investment

Anil explained the collaboration between Delphi's research team and investment team. The investment team receives numerous investment opportunities, while the research team continuously looks for projects worthy of report writing. If the research team identifies potential alpha, they write a report and send it to the investment team, recommending further investigation.

Investment Decision Process

At Delphi, the investment decision process is relatively slow, usually taking two weeks. In the first week, the investment team submits investment opportunities to the Investment Committee (IC) and answers the committee members' questions. In the second week, experts from the research team participate in discussions, conducting in-depth analysis and debates on investment opportunities. This interaction generates high-quality discussions, helping the team make wiser investment decisions.

Advantages and Challenges

Anil emphasized that although Delphi's investment process is relatively slow, this thoughtful approach can avoid hasty decisions made due to market hype during a bull market. He believes that this method not only increases the success rate of investments but also promotes knowledge sharing among teams and improves research quality.

Delphi's three-arm strategy combines research, investment, and team collaboration to create an effective process, helping them find alpha in the competitive crypto market. This model not only enhances the practicality of research but also improves the quality of investment decisions, ensuring that the team can stay ahead in a complex market environment.

Projects of Interest

Current Projects of Interest

When discussing current projects, Anil mentioned his excitement about some emerging projects in Delphi Labs and Ventures departments. He pointed out that although he spends less time in the Labs department, he is very optimistic about two incubated projects – Legion and MetalX.

Operations Model of the Labs Department

Anil explained the operation of Labs: they propose ideas, find teams for incubation, and then launch them into the market. Recently, they decided to temporarily halt new incubation projects, focusing on advancing existing projects and planning an evaluation in the next nine to twelve months.

Investment Focus of the Ventures Department

In the Ventures department, Anil mentioned that they are focusing on several areas, especially the intersection of AI and cryptocurrencies. He mentioned specific projects such as MyShell (a project similar to role AI) and Inference Labs, which have generated great interest within the team. Additionally, they have invested in Haitopia, a decentralized Minecraft project, and an Internet Game with significant development on Solana.

Infrastructure Projects

Regarding infrastructure, Anil mentioned some noteworthy projects, such as Nisha, which is a more interconnected Rollup ecosystem with a strong team.

Research and Consulting

In research and consulting, Anil mentioned their collaboration with multiple protocols (such as Anoma) and the public sharing of most of their work for learning and reference. He specifically mentioned a recent in-depth report they did for Optimism, sharing their vision of Optimism's superchain.

Work-Life Balance in the Crypto Field

Maintaining Work-Life Balance

When asked about maintaining a balance between family life and work life in the crypto industry, Anil shared his views. He believes that despite the crypto market being a 24/7 open environment, maintaining a balanced life is still very important. He mentioned that he has made many friends in this industry and is currently attending a friend's engagement party in Spain, where discussions rarely involve crypto topics, allowing him to relax.

Importance of Enjoying Life

Anil emphasized the importance of enjoying life, stating that life is short and should be enjoyed. He and his wife travel together and try to spend time with family and friends. He mentioned that the market is always there, so people should actively seize opportunities and enjoy life. He recalled the first three years of founding Delphi, where he hardly took any breaks. Although that time was very productive, it was not healthy. After some reflection, he realized that taking proper breaks can improve work efficiency.

Anecdotes in the Crypto Industry

Regarding anecdotes in the crypto industry, Anil shared his experience of resigning from a high-level executive position on Wall Street with his partner Yan to start their own crypto research company. When they explained this decision to their boss, she initially thought they were joking and was puzzled by their choice.

Anil recalled that at the time, the price of Bitcoin had dropped from $20,000 to $6,000, and they felt like they were resigning at the market's low point.

Motivation and Determination

As they left the office, their boss said to them, "If this doesn't work out, you can call me anytime. Deutsche Bank will always welcome you back." This statement motivated Anil and Yan, and they were determined not to give themselves a chance to go back. Anil believes that this motivation strengthened their determination to start their own business.

免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。