A crypto pioneer who turned a $20 million family stake into a billion-dollar fund doubles down on bitcoin
Key takeaways
- If you talk to everyone who is an early backer... they believe in bitcoin.
- Ether was trading around $1,775 as of time of writing, while bitcoin was near $63,000.
- Wo argued that ether's fundamental valuation remains heavily dependent on the localized application layer running directly on top of the network to capture fee value.
A crypto pioneer who turned a $20 million family stake into a billion-dollar fund doubles down on bitcoin Sourcing initial capital from his mother to build a $1 billion crypto empire, DFG CEO James Wo says market metrics do not support Tom Lee’s $250,000 ether prediction.By Olivier Acuna|Edited by Aoyon Ashraf Jun 6, 2026, 3:00 p.m. 3 min read Make preferred on James Wo, CEO and founder of DFG, the man who built a $1 billion empire with mom's $20 million.. (Olivier Acuna/CoinDesk)What to know: James Wo, founder of crypto investment firm DFG, argues that bitcoin has achieved a level of institutional consensus and safe-haven status that ether is unlikely to match in the near term.Wo claims that Ethereum’s value is diluted by activity and fees shifting to Layer-2 networks, and he doubts ether will reach a new all-time high even as some in the community, including Vitalik Buterin, debate upgrades that could change the network's economics.Drawing on a decade of investing that began with a $20 million bitcoin allocation, Wo forecasts that bitcoin will outperform major stock markets, could correct to about $60,000, and may reach around $125,000 in a new peak he expects in 2027 or 2028.James Wo, the founder and chief executive of crypto investment firm DFG, says bitcoin remains the dominant institutional asset in crypto — and ether is unlikely to reach the same status anytime soon.
Speaking to CoinDesk at the Proof of Talk conference in Paris, Wo rejected Bitmine Immersion Technologies Chairman Tom Lee’s big prediction that ether would hit $250,000, arguing that Ethereum lacks the same consensus and institutional recognition that have formed around bitcoin.
"Bitcoin has a very strong consensus. If you talk to everyone who is an early backer... they believe in bitcoin. Now, beyond the early backing of bitcoin, all the people in crypto, and also traditional finance people, are trying to recognize bitcoin as a safe haven or asset class. I don't think Ethereum is there yet."