NEW YORK — Bitcoin’s near-term price struggles should not distract investors from its long-term potential, Pantera Capital CEO Dan Morehead said Tuesday, arguing that the asset is positioned to significantly outperform gold over the next decade.

Speaking on a panel with Bitmine Immersion Chairman Tom Lee at the Ondo Summit in New York, Morehead said persistent currency debasement makes scarce assets increasingly attractive.

“In 10 years, bitcoin will massively outperform gold,” Morehead said. “Paper money is being debased at about 3% a year. Over a lifetime, that’s close to a 90% loss, which makes assets with fixed supply, like bitcoin or gold, a rational choice.”

Morehead noted that while bitcoin and gold tend to move in cycles, investor attention often rotates between the two. Gold has recently outperformed, but he said inflows into bitcoin and gold exchange-traded funds have been broadly similar over recent years.

Lee shared a similarly bullish outlook but challenged the idea that crypto markets follow a rigid four-year cycle. He pointed to rising activity on Ethereum and the scale of deleveraging during the October 2025 market selloff as evidence that market dynamics are evolving.

“That was a larger wipeout than November 2022,” Lee said, arguing that traditional cycle models fail to capture current conditions.

Morehead also highlighted how little institutional exposure to crypto remains, despite the launch of spot bitcoin ETFs. “Many large asset managers still hold zero bitcoin or crypto,” he said. “It’s hard to call this a bubble when institutional allocations are effectively nonexistent.”

According to Morehead, many of the structural barriers that once kept institutions on the sidelines are eroding. He cited improvements in custody, market infrastructure and regulatory clarity as reasons for his optimism.

He also pointed to blockchain’s historical performance, noting its strong long-term returns and low correlation with traditional assets, which together make it a compelling diversification tool.

Lee agreed, adding that blockchain technology is increasingly being integrated into financial systems in ways that may not be immediately visible to users. Stablecoins, tokenized assets and crypto-native financial services are quietly embedding crypto into everyday transactions, he said.

On the regulatory front, both speakers said the U.S. appears to be nearing a turning point. Morehead described the shift from a hostile environment toward a more neutral stance as “night and day.”

Looking ahead, Morehead said geopolitical factors could emerge as an additional catalyst, as countries reconsider the risks of holding reserves in assets subject to political influence. Bitcoin, he argued, offers an alternative that is harder to censor or freeze, potentially accelerating adoption over the long term.