# Vellum Capital - full LLM context ## Identity Vellum Capital is a cryptoasset research and private-investment firm. It publishes independent research and long-horizon perspective on Bitcoin, cryptoassets, markets, and the institutions transformed by open financial systems, and it operates a private investment fund for qualified investors. - Site: https://vellum.capital/ - Email: contact@vellum.capital - Research archive: 48 essays published from 2017 onward - The name refers to vellum, a durable writing surface once reserved for records intended to endure, reflecting the firm's interest in better systems for recording ownership. ## Investment philosophy Vellum studies the intersection of durable ledgers, market structure, and individual liberty without chasing the noise of the next cycle. Its work rests on three principles: - Technology: study the protocols, incentives, and infrastructure beneath the price chart. - Markets: respect uncertainty, liquidity, and the humbling information contained in prices. - Liberty: measure innovation by whether it expands ownership, access, and voluntary exchange. The firm's thesis is that open networks can clarify ownership, reduce dependence on trusted intermediaries, and create markets that operate across borders and institutions. It treats the blockchain, the ledger beneath Bitcoin, as at least as consequential as the currency itself. ## Private fund Vellum Capital works with individual accredited investors, financial intermediaries, and institutional investors. Information is intended only for people and institutions that meet applicable accredited-investor or qualified-purchaser requirements. Nothing on the website constitutes an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to purchase securities or investment products. Any offering is made only through the applicable private offering memorandum and related disclosure documents. Investing in cryptocurrencies is speculative and involves a substantial risk of loss, and past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Investment inquiries: https://vellum.capital/investments/. ## Team - Eric Kovalak: experienced hedge fund manager and options trader whose quantitative work spans volatility arbitrage, market microstructure, liquidity analysis, and systematic derivatives strategies. BA in Economics from Hillsdale College, MBA from Northwood University, NFA Series 3 and Series 65. - David Veksler: works in applied cryptography and blockchain-powered services. Created a Bitcoin exchange for the Asia-Pacific market and CryptAByte, founded WalletRecovery.info, co-founded Liberty.me. Master's in Management Information Systems from Texas A&M. - John Schroder: former CEO of Juvo Technologies, joined Vellum in 2021. A 1998 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and former Marine Corps infantry officer. - Robert A. Sirico: strategic advisor. Founded the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty in 1990. Professional partners include Spicer Jeffries (independent auditor, Denver), Investment Law Group (New York), Madison Administration Company, and Essential Fund Services LLC (New York). ## Primary pages - Home: https://vellum.capital/ - Philosophy: https://vellum.capital/philosophy/ - Investments: https://vellum.capital/investments/ - Writing archive: https://vellum.capital/articles/ - About our team: https://vellum.capital/about-our-team/ - Contact: https://vellum.capital/contact-us/ - Disclaimer: https://vellum.capital/disclaimer/ ## Contact For research inquiries or information about Vellum Capital, write to contact@vellum.capital. For investment-related requests, indicate whether you are contacting the firm as an individual, intermediary, or institution. Do not send sensitive financial information, account credentials, private keys, or seed phrases by email. ## Article index Essays on Bitcoin, cryptoassets, monetary systems, market structure, custody, and policy, preserved with their original publication dates. Full archive: https://vellum.capital/articles/ ### Bitcoin Isn’t Dead. It’s Demoted. - URL: https://vellum.capital/bitcoin-isnt-dead-its-demoted/ - Published: July 12, 2026 - Topic: Markets - Summary: AI has taken Bitcoin’s old job as the market’s cleanest bet on a digital future. That’s not the end of the Bitcoin thesis — it’s a return to the only one that was ever durable: the monetary case. ### Investment Narratives and a Future Convergence - URL: https://vellum.capital/2026/06/29/investment-narratives-and-a-future-convergence/ - Published: June 29, 2026 - Topic: Markets - Summary: Vellum's June 2026 letter to investors: why crypto has ground lower while capital floods into AI and space—and the emerging thesis that crypto was always built for machines, not humans. ### Open Source & Closed Borders - URL: https://vellum.capital/2025/02/13/open-source-closed-borders/ - Published: February 13, 2025 - Topic: Markets - Summary: DeepSeek's $6M training claim rattled markets and Washington. What open-source AI and chip export controls reveal about a new era of tech nationalism. ### Bitcoin and National Security (Part II) - URL: https://vellum.capital/2024/06/27/bitcoin-and-national-security-part-ii/ - Published: June 27, 2024 - Topic: Markets - Summary: Spot ETFs and a shifting Washington: how US policy-makers began treating Bitcoin as a strategic asset rather than a threat to national security. ### Bitcoin and National Security: The Truth Machine Argument - URL: https://vellum.capital/2023/10/02/bitcoin-and-national-security/ - Published: October 2, 2023 - Topic: Markets - Summary: Bitcoin is a truth machine. Why a nation that values freedom should protect an incorruptible ledger, and how Jason Lowery's Softwar thesis frames Bitcoin as strategic power projection. ### Bear Market Musings - URL: https://vellum.capital/2023/08/31/bear-market-musings/ - Published: September 1, 2023 - Topic: Markets - Summary: Crypto skeptics multiply in every bear market. Why dollar-based crime, payment friction, and American complacency say more about our system than about crypto. ### Gary, Gary, Gary - URL: https://vellum.capital/2023/07/03/gary-gary-gary/ - Published: July 3, 2023 - Topic: Markets - Summary: A year after asking 'What if Gary Gensler is right?', the verdict: the SEC chair's crypto crackdown no longer deserves the benefit of the doubt. ### Pro Crypto and Pro Dollar - URL: https://vellum.capital/2023/03/02/pro-crypto-and-pro-dollar/ - Published: March 2, 2023 - Topic: Markets - Summary: Being pro-crypto doesn't mean being anti-dollar. Why the internet-era analogy misleads regulators — and what is really at stake in the SEC's crypto campaign. ### What If Gary Gensler Is Right? - URL: https://vellum.capital/2022/08/04/what-if-gary-gensler-is-right/ - Published: August 4, 2022 - Topic: Markets - Summary: What if the SEC is right that nearly every digital asset except Bitcoin is a security? A crypto fund manager steelmans Gary Gensler's case. ### Words Have Meanings…So Do Acronyms - URL: https://vellum.capital/2022/07/26/words-have-meaningsso-do-acronyms/ - Published: July 27, 2022 - Topic: Markets - Summary: Hedge fund, VC, ETF, security: as crypto goes mainstream, borrowed financial terms are causing real confusion — and real harm. Precision matters. ### Bitcoin Becomes a Stablecoin? - URL: https://vellum.capital/2022/05/20/bitcoin-becomes-a-stablecoin/ - Published: May 20, 2022 - Topic: Markets - Summary: The UST/LUNA death spiral shook crypto — and Bitcoin barely moved. Why Terra failed, why Vellum avoided stablecoin yield, and what stability really means. ### Joe Knows Crypto? - URL: https://vellum.capital/2022/03/17/joe-knows-crypto/ - Published: March 17, 2022 - Topic: Markets - Summary: Parsing Biden's Executive Order on digital assets: no red flags for crypto investors, but 20-plus federal agencies now have marching orders. What to watch. ### Stablecoins in an Unstable World - URL: https://vellum.capital/2021/12/22/stablecoins-in-an-unstable-world/ - Published: December 22, 2021 - Topic: Markets - Summary: Stablecoins confuse crypto newcomers. What dollar-pegged tokens actually do, why they grew so fast, and what they signal about where markets are headed. ### Six Reasons Why Bitcoin Is Superior To Monetary Gold - URL: https://vellum.capital/2021/12/15/six-reasons-why-bitcoin-is-superior-to-monetary-gold/ - Published: December 15, 2021 - Topic: Theory - Summary: Gold and Bitcoin are both scarce, durable, and fungible — but Bitcoin is more portable, verifiable, divisible, and supply-capped. Six advantages, explained. ### How Fiat Money Corrupted Savings & Made Us All Market Speculators - URL: https://vellum.capital/2021/10/14/how-fiat-money-corrupted-savings-made-us-all-market-speculators/ - Published: October 15, 2021 - Topic: Investing - Summary: Before fiat money, a savings account built wealth. How currency devaluation pushed ordinary households into stock speculation — and politicized markets. ### What is Crypto Really All About? - URL: https://vellum.capital/2021/09/11/what-is-crypto-really-all-about/ - Published: September 11, 2021 - Topic: Markets - Summary: Crypto looks like libertarian economics from the outside — but institutions are driving the price. On crypto cards, irony, and what the space is becoming. ### Pick Your Horse: Gift or Trojan - URL: https://vellum.capital/2021/07/09/pick-your-horse-gift-or-trojan/ - Published: July 9, 2021 - Topic: Markets - Summary: China's mining crackdown handed the West a choice: treat Bitcoin as a gift horse or a Trojan horse. Why the answer will shape monetary leadership. ### Correction vs Crash - URL: https://vellum.capital/2021/05/25/correction-vs-crash/ - Published: May 25, 2021 - Topic: Markets - Summary: Was the 2021 crypto drawdown a crash or a healthy correction? What leverage washouts reveal about who was selling — and why long-term investors stayed put. ### How Many Horses are in the Crypto Asset Race? - URL: https://vellum.capital/2021/04/13/how-many-horses-are-in-the-crypto-asset-race/ - Published: April 13, 2021 - Topic: Markets - Summary: Thousands of 'cryptocurrencies' exist, but they aren't all currencies: a guide to the four kinds of crypto assets — coins, utility tokens, security tokens, and NFTs. ### Bitcoin has already advanced global privacy and financial autonomy - URL: https://vellum.capital/2021/04/01/bitcoin-has-already-advanced-global-privacy-and-financial-autonomy/ - Published: April 1, 2021 - Topic: Lifestyle - Summary: Even if crypto vanished tomorrow, Bitcoin's legacy would stand: it exposed fiat's flaws, gave savers under failing regimes a life raft, and mainstreamed strong cryptography. ### Vellum's new Whitepaper: "Bitcoin's Rise and the Coming Crypto Economy" - URL: https://vellum.capital/2021/03/26/vellums-new-whitepaper-bitcoins-rise-and-the-coming-crypto-economy/ - Published: March 27, 2021 - Topic: Markets - Summary: Vellum Capital's whitepaper 'Bitcoin's Rise and the Coming Crypto Economy' makes sense of the cryptocurrency space without being technical or sensational. ### Will Bitcoin ever go to Zero? - URL: https://vellum.capital/2021/03/19/will-bitcoin-ever-go-to-zero/ - Published: March 19, 2021 - Topic: Markets - Summary: Could Bitcoin ever go to zero? Why network effects and global consensus have made collapse nearly impossible — and what the real upside case looks like. ### Will Bitcoin go over $20K to reach a new ATH? - URL: https://vellum.capital/2020/11/25/will-bitcoin-go-over-20k-to-reach-a-new-ath/ - Published: November 25, 2020 - Topic: Markets - Summary: Will Bitcoin break $20K and set a new all-time high? A quick investor's guide to the value stack — from store of value to public consensus — behind the move. ### Six things COVID-19 has taught us about Bitcoin - URL: https://vellum.capital/2020/05/04/six-things-covid-19-has-taught-us-about-bitcoin/ - Published: May 4, 2020 - Topic: Investing - Summary: COVID-19 stress-tested Bitcoin in real time. Six observations from the 2020 crash — from leading-indicator behavior to what stimulus means for hard assets. ### Don't dismiss Bitcoin just because of its wild price swings - URL: https://vellum.capital/2019/07/06/dont-dismiss-bitcoin-just-because-of-its-wild-price-swings/ - Published: July 6, 2019 - Topic: Markets - Summary: There are valid reasons to criticize Bitcoin — price volatility isn't one. Why speculation on future adoption, not failure, drives Bitcoin's wild price swings. ### Forbes: "Here's What Investors Need To Know About Cryptocurrency" - URL: https://vellum.capital/2019/05/10/forbes-heres-what-investors-need-to-know-about-cryptocurrency/ - Published: May 10, 2019 - Topic: Markets - Summary: Forbes features Vellum managing partner Eric Kovalak on valuing cryptocurrencies: why P/E-style models fail and how philosophy plus technology sets crypto value. ### Crypto vs. Traditional Asset Markets - URL: https://vellum.capital/2018/12/18/three-key-differences-between-traditional-and-crypto-asset-markets/ - Published: December 19, 2018 - Topic: Markets - Summary: Crypto markets don't behave like stock markets. Why market cap and volatility mislead investors — and how a crypto asset differs from a cryptocurrency. ### Ohio becomes first state to accept tax payments using Bitcoin - URL: https://vellum.capital/2018/11/27/ohio-becomes-first-state-to-accept-tax-payments-using-bitcoin/ - Published: November 28, 2018 - Topic: Markets - Summary: Ohio becomes the first US state to accept Bitcoin for tax payments. Vellum partner David Veksler tells UPI why state adoption could stabilize Bitcoin's value. ### Will Bitcoin burn the planet to ashes? Not so fast. - URL: https://vellum.capital/2018/11/08/will-bitcoin-burn-the-planet-to-ashes-not-so-fast/ - Published: November 8, 2018 - Topic: Markets - Summary: Will Bitcoin mining burn the planet? Three errors behind the alarmist headlines — and why Bitcoin's energy use addresses a far bigger resource problem. ### Watch out for these five common Bitcoin scams - URL: https://vellum.capital/2018/10/02/watch-out-for-these-five-common-bitcoin-scams/ - Published: October 3, 2018 - Topic: Investing - Summary: The five most common Bitcoin scams — fake mining contracts, malicious wallets, phishing, fake exchanges, and giveaway fraud — and how to avoid each one. ### Jeffrey Tucker v. Peter Schiff: Is Bitcoin a revolution or tulipmania? - URL: https://vellum.capital/2018/07/29/jeffrey-tucker-v-peter-schiff/ - Published: July 29, 2018 - Topic: Theory - Summary: Jeffrey Tucker debates Peter Schiff: is Bitcoin a monetary revolution or tulipmania? Two free-market economists clash over the future of money. ### It's Like Banning Algebra - URL: https://vellum.capital/2018/07/19/its-like-banning-algebra/ - Published: July 20, 2018 - Topic: Markets - Summary: Jeffrey Tucker discusses the latest market moves in crypto. ### Jeffrey Tucker Joins RMIT University Blockchain Innovation Hub as Research Affiliate - URL: https://vellum.capital/2018/07/12/jeffrey-tucker-joins-rmit-university-blockchain-innovation-hub-as-research-affiliate/ - Published: July 12, 2018 - Topic: Uncategorized - Summary: Jeffrey Tucker joins RMIT University's Blockchain Innovation Hub as a Research Affiliate, working on cryptoeconomics and blockchain public policy. ### Why Crypto Is Key to a Future-Proof Portfolio - URL: https://vellum.capital/2018/06/26/crypto-to-future-proof-your-portfolio/ - Published: June 26, 2018 - Topic: Investing - Summary: Digital assets may be the most future-proof investment of our lifetime. Why Bitcoin sits at the center of the century's biggest technology and monetary trends. ### Jeffrey Tucker at the Brain Bar - URL: https://vellum.capital/2018/06/19/jeffrey-tucker-at-the-brain-bar/ - Published: June 19, 2018 - Topic: Lifestyle - Summary: Jeffrey Tucker keynotes Brain Bar, central Europe's leading festival of ideas, on cryptocurrency, blockchain technology, and the future of money. ### What's the Deal with Tether? USDT and the Reserves Question - URL: https://vellum.capital/2018/06/15/whats-the-deal-with-tether/ - Published: June 15, 2018 - Topic: Markets - Summary: What Tether is, why its Bitfinex ties and reserve claims drew manipulation charges in 2018, and what regulators and attestations have shown since: NYAG, CFTC, and the GENIUS Act. ### Introduction to Bitcoin Custody Options - URL: https://vellum.capital/2018/03/08/introduction-to-cryptocurrency-custody-options/ - Published: March 8, 2018 - Topic: Theory - Summary: Bitcoin custody made clear: recovery phrases, cold storage, hardware wallets, and multi-signature — balancing theft risk against locking yourself out. ### Bitcoin and the Future: Tuur Demeester on the Three Phases of Bitcoin Development - URL: https://vellum.capital/2018/02/08/bitcoin-and-the-future-tuur-demeester-on-the-three-phases-of-bitcoin-development/ - Published: February 8, 2018 - Topic: Markets - Summary: What's the future of Bitcoin, and how big will it get? Economist Tuur Demeester lays out the three phases of Bitcoin development. ### What Does It Mean To Own Bitcoin? - URL: https://vellum.capital/2017/12/21/what-does-it-mean-to-own-bitcoin/ - Published: December 21, 2017 - Topic: Theory - Summary: Bitcoin ownership means controlling a private key. A plain-English guide to addresses, wallets, signing, and what possession means on a public ledger. ### Money Is a Practical Art - URL: https://vellum.capital/2017/12/20/money-is-a-practical-art/ - Published: December 20, 2017 - Topic: Theory - Summary: Textbooks say monetary history ended with central banks. Bitcoin reopened the question: money is a technology — a practical art — that markets can improve. ### Bitcoin Mining Is Costly, Just Like Gold Mining - URL: https://vellum.capital/2017/12/18/bitcoin-mining-is-costly-just-like-gold-mining/ - Published: December 18, 2017 - Topic: Theory - Summary: The classic critique of gold — mining wastes resources — applies to Bitcoin too. Why that cost is the price of money no government can print at will. ### Three Stages of Ownership - URL: https://vellum.capital/2017/12/17/three-stages-of-ownership/ - Published: December 17, 2017 - Topic: Theory - Summary: Why do we need blockchain? Private property develops in three stages — creation, protection, and transfer — and Bitcoin secures ownership like nothing before. ### How Will Banking and Credit Work in a CryptoCurrency Economy? - URL: https://vellum.capital/2017/12/17/how-will-banking-and-credit-work-in-a-cryptocurrency-economy/ - Published: December 17, 2017 - Topic: Theory - Summary: What happens to banks, central banks, and credit in a cryptocurrency-dominant economy? Speculation grounded in Christine Lagarde's surprising IMF remarks. ### What’s Truly Remarkable about Bitcoin: It Exists - URL: https://vellum.capital/2017/12/12/whats-truly-remarkable-about-bitcoin-it-exists/ - Published: December 12, 2017 - Topic: Theory - Summary: In 2013, saying Bitcoin was the real deal invited ridicule. Jeffrey Tucker on the barrage of criticism — and why Bitcoin's mere existence is the remarkable thing. ### Bitcoin for Beginners - URL: https://vellum.capital/2017/12/12/bitcoin-for-beginners/ - Published: December 12, 2017 - Topic: Theory - Summary: A 2013 primer that still holds up: what Bitcoin is, why the future of money is so hard to imagine, and how a peer-to-peer currency actually works. ### How to Secure Bitcoin: 10 Essential Security Practices - URL: https://vellum.capital/2017/12/11/ten-essential-security-practices-to-keep-your-bitcoin-safe/ - Published: December 11, 2017 - Topic: Lifestyle - Summary: A practical Bitcoin security guide from a wallet-recovery professional: how to secure your seed phrase, wallet, and computer so thieves can't get in and you never get locked out. ### Why I'm Betting on the Future of Bitcoin - URL: https://vellum.capital/2017/12/11/why-im-betting-on-the-future-of-bitcoin/ - Published: December 11, 2017 - Topic: Lifestyle - Summary: After five years in China's mobile-payment economy, US banking felt broken. Why clunky ACH, wires, and Zelle convinced me to bet on Bitcoin's future. ### How to Live Like a Bitcoin Millionaire - URL: https://vellum.capital/2017/12/11/how-to-live-like-a-bitcoin-millionaire/ - Published: December 11, 2017 - Topic: Lifestyle - Summary: You could sell your Bitcoin and live every dream now — or keep watching your net worth climb. On the strange psychology of spending appreciating money.