VanEck's Pranav Kanade: Crypto Builders Must Focus On User Acquisition

Pranav Kanade will represent VanEck at the upcoming exclusive event — Benzinga’s Future of Digital Assets conference. He will talk about his firm's viewpoints in a discussion titled "Building a Stronger Web3 Ecosystem: VanEck's Vision and Strategy."

Kanade moved to the U.S. from India at the age of 13. After reading “The Intelligent Investor” by Benjamin Graham, he studied finance at NYU Stern, and during that time, his roommate was Kyle Samani, the future co-founder of Multicoin Capital.

Before catching the crypto bug, Kanade accumulated significant experience in traditional finance. He was an analyst for UBS and Hutchin Hill Capital before becoming Head of Research of Angelo, Gordon & Co's Liquid Credit Investing business. Eventually, he joined Millennium Management as a Portfolio Manager.

Still, his friendship with Samani exposed him to the Web 3 world- particularly Ethereum. After years of studying DeFi, while working in TradFi, Kanade focused on BNB tokens, perceiving opportunities in applicable cashflow-creating solutions.

"Let's assume I own some stocks in my Robinhood account, a few mutual funds in my Fidelity account and I have some cash in my J.P. Morgan checking account. Today (Web 2.0), when I need to use my Uber app to hail a ride, I need to use a credit or debit card. This introduces financial friction (paid to Visa and the banks) and requires several clicks and time on my end (the user) to ultimately settle these transactions at some point in the future. In the world of Web3, I custody my assets. In the Web3 version of the above scenario, Uber would immediately recognize the value in my Robinhood/Fidelity/JPM accounts and allow me to use those assets for payment, skipping a few intermediate steps and the middlemen. Saves everyone time and money," he wrote in an elaborate post.

After admiring Jan van Eck's viewpoints on these technologies, Kanade pitched him a liquid digital assets strategy, advocating for the potential of the tokenized asset market.

Kanade's strategy involves investing in 15-30 liquid tokens with a two-year horizon, employing a future cash flow valuation-based approach and active risk management. An Open-source, permissionless approach is central to his investment thesis, as he envisions the future with programmable digital assets that remove friction and improve productivity.

Still, choosing between thousands of potential crypto projects is not an easy task. In a recent interview for The Block, Kanade shared some advice for prospective crypto entrepreneurs.

"A lot of people are too focused on building things for the existing user base rather than building things for people that are not current users. I'd love to see more of that," he noted, emphasizing the impact of broader adaptation.

Join Benzinga’s Future of Digital Assets in NYC on Nov. 14, 2023, to stay updated on trends like AI, regulations, SEC actions & institutional adoption in the crypto space. Secure early bird discounted tickets now!

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