Scenius Studio (Episode #47)
Matt Halstead -- Texas Teachers
Scenius: The intelligence and the intuition of a whole cultural scene. The communal form of the concept of genius.
Welcome to the Scenius Studio
As a crypto-dedicated Fund-of-Funds Manager at Scenius Capital, host, Ben Jacobs has the unique opportunity to speak daily with the brightest investors in the blockchain space. In Scenius Studio, Ben chats with crypto Hedge Fund Managers and Venture Capitalists in wide-ranging, evergreen, and alpha-focused conversations.
In each episode of Scenius Studio, Ben dives deep with these talented professionals to understand what drove them to crypto, and how they approach the complex craft of investing in the wild west of digital assets and blockchain technology. We are excited to share these discussions publicly through this podcast.
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In this episode, Ben sits down with Matt Halstead, Director of Digital Assets and Real Estate investing at the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, also known as Texas Teachers.
Matt built the digital assets program at Texas Teachers from scratch and has helped push the asset class forward via his highly institutional and sophisticated approach to crypto fund allocations. We typically hear from GPs on Scenius Studio but in order for the space to further develop and mature, it is essential we acknowledge and learn from the LPs who invest with rigor and size.
See below👇 for a sneak peak of the episode, links to the podcast, topics discussed and resources mentioned.
Spotify
Apple
In this episode we discuss:
How Matt built the case internally for Texas Teachers to launch a blockchain program
The challenge of bucketing digital assets within existing investment categories
Why the recent ETFs are complements rather than substitutes for institutions looking at the asset class
How Matt constructed a portfolio and learned how to conduct due diligence on emerging managers in an emerging industry
Common threads among the best venture brands in crypto
Impediments to institutional adoption and allocation to fund strategies
What GPs get wrong when talking to sophisticated allocators
How the industry can improve its education of non-crypto-natives
Matt’s spiciest takes 🌶️
We hope you enjoy listening to this conversation with Matt. If you got any value out of the podcast then please consider sharing Scenius Studio with your network 💪