Headline: DFG’s James Wo doubles down on bitcoin — says ether won’t match bitcoin’s institutional status anytime soon
At the Proof of Talk conference in Paris, James Wo — founder and CEO of crypto investment firm DFG, who built a billion-dollar fund from a $20 million family stake — made a forceful case that bitcoin remains the dominant institutional crypto, and that ether is unlikely to follow it to the same status.
Wo directly challenged a recent prediction from Bitmine Immersion Technologies Chairman Tom Lee that ether could hit $250,000. "I totally disagree with him," Wo told CoinDesk. "Bitcoin has a very strong consensus. ... 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."
At the time of the interview, ether traded around $1,775 while bitcoin hovered near $63,000. Wo argued the structural reasons for the divergence lie in how value accrues on each network. He said ether’s fundamental value is tied closely to the application layer running on top of Ethereum — and that modern Layer-2 networks, which route transaction volume and capture fees independently, have changed how fee utility and economic activity are distributed.
"The value of ether has been more diversified or decentralized," Wo said. "The Ethereum token as a whole is not going to capture a lot of value. Onchain activity is not as big as people expected... I don't think Ethereum will even hit an all-time high. I think bitcoin will perform well, but not Ethereum."
Not everyone agrees this is permanent. In February, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin reopened debate by suggesting Layer-2s may "no longer make sense" if future upgrades make the Ethereum base layer faster and cheaper — a development that could shift more economic activity back to the base layer and change value accrual dynamics.
Wo’s perspective is shaped by a decade of deploying capital across digital assets, starting with bitcoin. After studying mathematics, he entered the space during the 2014 bear market and began trading bitcoin. His mother — then running an established enterprise and private equity firm in China — backed him with $20 million. Wo put that capital into bitcoin during the 2014–2015 lows, then diversified DFG’s balance sheet as markets heated up, becoming an early venture participant in Solana, Polkadot and Near, and making an early $10 million allocation to Circle’s USDC project in January 2018.
Those moves helped DFG evolve from a bitcoin-focused vehicle into one of crypto’s larger venture investors. The firm now manages more than 100 portfolio companies and reportedly oversees over $1 billion in assets under management.
Looking ahead, Wo is bullish on bitcoin’s multi-year prospects while remaining cautious on ether. He framed bitcoin as a highly liquid investment that will outperform regional real estate and stock markets. He also allowed for a near-term correction — saying a 50% pullback would put a bottom around $60,000 to $62,000 — but added that only an extreme geopolitical "black swan" would drive prices materially lower. For the longer term, he forecasts bitcoin could reach about $125,000 at the peak of the next cycle, perhaps as soon as 2027 or 2028.
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