Things Anthony Pompliano Has Said on Podcasts

“The fat protocol thesis was wrong. I think the fat model thesis is wrong as well. But it doesn't mean that it's a zero. It just means that it doesn't take 100%. Maybe it takes 40% of the value.” — Anthony Pompliano, The Pomp Podcast

Pompliano compares AI with crypto's old "fat protocol" thesis, which held that nearly all value would go to base layers like Bitcoin and Ethereum and turned out wrong. He argues the idea that OpenAI and Anthropic capture all of AI's value will fail the same way, with apps and infrastructure taking a share.

The Pomp Podcast · 2026-10-17 Permalink → Listen →

The Pomp Podcast Around 50:00 into the episode

Anthony Pompliano

…now, most companies I think are going to want to own their full stack. Big companies are going to be slower. Small companies are already doing it. And so the trend to me is like that there is way more headwind here than just like, have we ever talked on this podcast about the fat protocol thesis?

Jordi Visser

No. No?

Anthony Pompliano

…has called it this yet, but there's basically this like fat model thesis that people have had for a lot for a couple of years, which is like all of the value is going to accrue just to OpenAI or Anthropic. I think now, you know, UI and many others are realizing, hey, no, no, there's going to be apps. There's going to be infrastructure. There's going to be also value at the model layer. And so the fat protocol thesis was wrong. I think the fat model thesis is wrong as well. But it doesn't mean that it's a zero. It just means that it doesn't take 100%. Maybe it takes 40% of the value. There's still value in these other layers as well. And so companies have to choose where do they play in the stack and like, I'm going to put dollars out. Do I put it to the model companies? Do I put it to the infrastructure? Do I put it to, you know, open source? Where does my money go in that stack? It's not all going to go to the model companies.

Jordi Visser

And I, so you brought up the point that I think everyone listening should be paying attention to, which is we're getting caught too much. And I think this is where our original conversation went on this, which is if you focus on the economics of something, you're just, you're wasting your time.…

Anthony Pompliano

We're running out of time, but I have to ask you, did you see Elon's demo of his new cars? What are your thoughts?

Jordi Visser

You know, I've avoided talking about SpaceX. And I'm driving this into SpaceX for a reason because Elon has also said that he sees SpaceX as being bigger than the global economy. I want to put that in perspective of how my brain finally got to the place that he could be right. Okay. Okay. Now, do I…

Speaker names from our own diarization · position estimated from where the line sits in the episode

“…I actually think, and I've been saying for a while, that most of the crypto industry is dead, but I think that Bitcoin, stable coins, tokenization, and like equity infrastructure is very much real and going to continue to accrue value.” — Anthony Pompliano, The Pomp Podcast

Pompliano had just described the Bitcoin community's belief that today's speculators are all future Bitcoiners who do not know it yet. He then drew his own line through the industry, writing most of it off while naming the pieces he thinks value accrues to. Jordi Visser answered by arguing that trust, not better technology, is what decides which rails institutions adopt.

The Pomp Podcast · 2026-08-29 Permalink → Listen →

The Pomp Podcast Around 54:39 into the episode

Anthony Pompliano

I'll leave you with this, which is there's a belief in the Bitcoin community that all the speculators, the gamblers, the shit coiners, they're all just future Bitcoiners. They don't realize it yet.

Speaker 4

We'll leave it at that. But

Anthony Pompliano

to be clear, I actually think, and I've been saying for a while, that most of the crypto industry is dead, but I think that Bitcoin, stable coins, tokenization, and like equity infrastructure is very much real and going to continue to accrue value. I recently was on somebody's podcast and they asked me, well, what about hyperliquid? And I said to them, look, it's not equity, but I look at it as infrastructure. And so I think there are some of these like, you know, kind of tokenization, decentralized, token-based things that don't fit perfectly in a bucket. But just like in the traditional world, there's kind of very clear areas where value…

Jordi Visser

Yeah. Just always remember one thing. And I've heard Tom Lee say this a few times over the course of the last six months. And I happen to agree with it. And it's because we both have worked in Wall Street in banks. There's a value in trust that comes even if the technology is not the best. And that…

Anthony Pompliano

Makes sense to me. All right. What are you going to cover on your video this week? Anyone who is watching this right now, I never say pause, but you should pause this. You should go to Jordy Visser on YouTube, hit the subscribe button, help our guy out here. He works hard for you. You know, it's…

Jordi Visser

First of all, the company that I've used in my videos for a while is going to be shutting down OpenBB. And so I've had to make a quick pivot to Google Slides. So there's going to be a different presentation, but a lot of the stuff we've talked about, I'm going to go more details. I am, like I said…

Speaker names from our own diarization · position estimated from where the line sits in the episode

Things Anthony Says on Podcasts

Where to Find Them

What They Said

Collections They Appear In