John Sarson, 41, is a crypto evangelist.
He is the CEO of Indianapolis-based Sarson Funds, which offers cryptocurrency-focused investments to accredited financial advisors and investors.
The company was founded in 2016 as a traditional investment firm, switched to crypto in 2017, and has 115 clients across the United States, up from 50 a year ago.
โWe have a team of 15 [employees]and we're getting a new customer almost every day,โ Sarson said.
He spoke to IBJ recently, not from his office, but from what he calls the company's "secret location," a house in Carmel where employees build computers and mine crypto.
What made you believe in cryptocurrencies?
In 2016, we were looking for... assets that we could add to our regular investment portfolio, and we started looking into Bitcoin. And when we saw the power behind blockchain technology [the technology that powers cryptocurrency]A lightbulb went off for us and we said, "This is going to change the way financial companies do business."
President Biden signed an executive order last week directing federal agencies to examine the risks and benefits of cryptocurrencies. What is his opinion on this?
It's absolutely positive for cryptocurrencies, and the reason why it's so positive is that it's... looking to create a framework for holistic regulation and in doing so ensures long-term permanence, or maybe long-term existence. , of crypto assets as a category of assets, which will not be prohibited but regulated by the United States. โฆ Now, it's just a function of establishing thoughtful regulation, and that's a game changer.
What is the biggest misperception about cryptocurrencies?
Cryptocurrencies have a bad image of being part of the dark web, and I would say that is not true. Current analysis indicates that only 1.5% of [cryptocurrency] the transactions would be considered some type of web purchase that would not otherwise be possible, such as a dark web transaction. And that number was 15% of transactions five years ago. And five years from now, it's probably going to be well below 1% because basically what's happening is that bona fide users or real users are crowding out all the illegitimate use while regulators are also... getting on top of it. day with the bad actors.
Crypto is a hot topic right now. How can the average person separate the truth from the exaggeration?
Everyone who wants to learn about cryptocurrencies should open a cryptocurrency account. I recommend Coinbase [a trading platform]. They are the biggest. They are in the USโฆthey have 25 or 30 tokens there, all of which have gone through a vetting process. So that way, they are not scams. They may be bad investments, but they are not scams. You know, if someone gets an email or a link in a chat room to a specific project he wants to invest in, that's very, very dangerous. โฆAnd thenโฆthey should talk to their financial advisor about what percentage of their assets they think falls into this type of asset category. Typically, financial advisors will say 5% or less. You know, it's a risky asset class and it's very volatile. So my advice to people would be to limit your exposure to only what you can [afford to] to lose.โข
