Crypto could outperform AI stocks: Wall Street veteran Jordi Visser

Cryptocurrencies could deliver a better payoff from the artificial intelligence boom than AI stocks themselves, according to Visser Labs founder Jordi Visser, who spoke to Cointelegraph's Trade Secrets. Visser, a three-decade veteran who has served as managing director at Morgan Stanley and chief investment officer at Weiss Multi-Strategy Advisers, argues that explosive gains in AI stocks are becoming harder to repeat. He said, "Without AI, I don't think crypto would be going through this bull market."

Visser's core thesis is that AI agents will allow users to instruct software to execute trades and other financial transactions on their behalf. He describes AI agents as "effectively the same as the App Store or the smartphone for crypto." Growing agent use would, in his view, drive more activity in tokenized assets and crypto payments, extending the opportunity beyond companies supplying computing power. He still sees several years of growth ahead in AI computing demand but says investors should temper expectations for stock returns. He identifies a severe AI downturn dragging equity markets as a risk to his bullish crypto case, adding that it would likely retest recent lows without ending the bull market.

Visser said he began reducing his Micron exposure in mid-May after concluding that hedge funds and retail investors had crowded into the AI trade. Context cited in the interview includes Microsoft's April 29 report that its AI business was generating revenue at an annualized rate of $37 billion, more than double a year earlier, and Micron's March report that fiscal second-quarter revenue nearly tripled to $23.86 billion. Visser's 100-stock AI portfolio is up about 40% this year but has become more volatile than Bitcoin on a rolling 126-day measure. He also flagged financing pressure in AI infrastructure, citing Oracle's $55.7 billion in fiscal 2026 capital expenditures against $32 billion in operating cash flow and $43 billion in debt raised. "I didn't say AI was over. AI fireworks show is over," he said.

By mid-May, Bitcoin was down 10.85% for the year and Ether about 25.86%, according to TradingView data cited in the article. Until August, Visser's crypto holdings consisted solely of Bitcoin, Ether and Solana; Bitcoin remains his largest position, but he has since broadened into other tokens. He tracks Dogecoin as a signal of returning retail enthusiasm, which he considers essential to a broader rally. He maintains an equally weighted index of 42 tokens and four publicly traded stocks, which he says has outperformed Bitcoin since June and which he plans to hold in full. Privacy is a theme he has already invested in, with Zcash and Monero cited as projects fitting that thesis, as AI raises the importance of privacy and identity protection amid rising fraud.