The Pomp Podcast
#703 Uncovering Alpha in the Crypto Market w/ Delphi Digital
- Delphi Digital began in 2018 as a research firm founded by five people from traditional finance backgrounds and has grown to 69 employees across research, labs (incubation), and a venture fund.
- The research division operates 20+ analysts producing deep-dive reports, newsletters (Weekly Yield Strats, DAO Digest), and institutional office hours; prices are doubling in November 2021 with a lock-in offer before November 2nd.
- Delphi Labs shut down its consulting division to focus on protocol incubation, launching Astroport (a DEX on Terra in November) and Mars Protocol (a money market on Terra in December) with novel token economics and governance designs.
- Key investment wins include early positions in Rune at a few cents and Axie Infinity (crypto gaming), with a strategy of concentrated, long-term bets combined with deep hands-on support for portfolio companies.
- Alpha in crypto markets now comes from being a value-add venture investor, spotting narrative rotations in secondary markets, identifying adoption dislocations via data analysis, and tracking cross-protocol interactions rather than pure trading.
- As capital has grown, Delphi has diversified from early DeFi focus into gaming, Web3, and NFT infrastructure while maintaining primary-market venture investment as the core strategy.