Dragonfly Managing Partner Haseeb: AI Apocalypse? Not Yet! Smart Contracts Are Laws Made for Machines | 168X

"In the world of crypto, surviving is the biggest Alpha. As long as you're still at the table, you qualify to enjoy the feast." Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly Capital, deeply analyzes the symbiotic relationship between AI and cryptocurrency, the survival rules for navigating bear markets, and the historic shift of the industry from "wild pioneering" to "institutionalization" in a special interview for Consensus HK on the East-West Capital Dialogue program "168X," drawing from his eight years of experience in the crypto cycle.

This legendary investor, who emerged from the Texas poker scene, started playing professional poker at the age of 16 with $50, ranked among the top ten in the world for online heads-up no-limit Texas Hold'em by 19, and then made a stunning transition to Silicon Valley, working at Airbnb and Earn.com (acquired by Coinbase), ultimately leading one of the most influential venture capital firms in the crypto industry—Dragonfly Capital, with over $5 billion in assets under management. Just a week ago, Dragonfly announced the completion of its fourth fund, raising $650 million, defying the bear market and once again proving its investment philosophy of "buying at the bottom."

This article is a summary of highlights from the 168X (@168X_Fortune) program—a top dialogue platform deeply connecting Eastern wisdom with Western innovation, focusing on cutting-edge fields such as AI, blockchain, robotics, space technology, and bioengineering, exploring how technology, capital, and human wisdom will reshape the future of human civilization. The program is hosted by ex-banker Mr. Z.

Host: Mr. Z (@168MrZ) · Guest: Haseeb Qureshi (@hosseeb)

The End of an Era: When Competitors Leave the Table

The interview opens with a shocking industry announcement.

Multicoin Capital co-founder Kyle Samani announced his departure from the crypto industry, where he has been deeply involved for nearly a decade, to pursue emerging fields like AI, robotics, and longevity technology.

For Haseeb, this is not just news; it is a personal farewell.

"Interestingly, Kyle was the first VC I met after entering the crypto world," he recalls. "We both entered the industry around the same time in 2017. He and I are completely different; we disagree on almost everything. But he is my most respected competitor."

Haseeb describes Kyle as "an outsider": without a prominent investment background, without the halo of prestigious schools, and without the backing of top institutions, "just someone who figured things out on his own, carving a bloody path with personal branding and extreme contrarian thinking."

"Seeing him leave, I feel a deep sense of melancholy," Haseeb admits, "because it feels like the youth of our generation is coming to an end. We entered this industry in our twenties when everything felt dreamy and futuristic. And now, this industry has grown up."

We've Won Too Much: From Rebels to Rule Makers

What is the mark of the industry's "growth"? Haseeb answers with a vivid metaphor:

"Back in the day, the market cap of stablecoins was only a few hundred million dollars; now it's $300 billion. The U.S. Treasury Secretary publicly predicts that stablecoins will reach $3 trillion in ten years, accounting for 15% of the overall money supply."

"We thought we were breaking the rules. But now, we are the rule makers."

"In a way, we've won too much," he says with complex emotions. "It's like we are a group of climbers who worked hard to reach the summit. Now, there are tour buses bringing tourists directly up. Yes, we won—but watching victory come this way leaves a bittersweet feeling."

BlackRock has entered the scene, and JP Morgan has issued its own tokenized dollar. The decentralized utopia once chased in youth has ultimately been realized through Wall Street's full takeover.

"When we entered the crypto world, we were chasing a crazy sci-fi future. This is not the future we imagined, but it is far more successful than we envisioned."

The once crypto punks got their desired "Mass Adoption," just with a different script.

AI Needs Cryptocurrency: Smart Contracts Are Laws for Machines

As AI steals the spotlight in global capital markets, has the value narrative of the crypto industry become outdated?

Haseeb's answer is distinct:

"AI is the most important technology of the 21st century, but like many technologies, it requires other infrastructures to work. AI needs energy, AI needs networks—it's the vast amounts of data on the network that feed large language models. The same goes for cryptocurrency."

He concretizes this intersection into a core scenario: When AI Agents start conducting business transactions, how do they settle with each other?

"Your agent and my agent do not use the same fiat currency and are not in the same banking system. You are in Taiwan, I am in the U.S. How does my agent do business with your agent? The answer has been there from the beginning: cryptocurrency."

Haseeb further proposes a profound insight: The true users of smart contracts are not humans, but AI.

"Think about the issue of legal contracts: I don't know what jurisdiction you're in, and I don't know how to sue your agent in court. Even if we go to court, it takes months to file, both sides hire expensive lawyers, and then it takes years to go through the legal process. But AI Agents operate much faster than human brains—courts are designed for human speed, while agents operate on a completely different timescale."

"The law is random. How will the judge rule? What will the jury say? No one knows. But smart contracts always say the same thing, as long as you understand the code. Predictability is exactly what AI Agents need."

This means that the narrative long touted by the crypto industry of "smart contracts replacing law" has always been difficult to land in the human world, but has found the perfect application scenario in the AI Agent economy.

The Industrial Revolution Took 50 Years: Don't Think of AI Too Radically

In the face of speculation about whether "Artificial Superintelligence" (ASI) is imminent, Haseeb displays a calmness unique to top venture capitalists:

"When ChatGPT launched in November 2022, many predicted we were just a few years away from AGI. Now, it's almost four years later. Is this AGI? Maybe. But if it is, it hasn't reflected in GDP or unemployment rates. You walk the streets of Hong Kong, everything looks normal, with no buildings on fire and no mass unemployment."

He uses the Industrial Revolution as a reference: "The Industrial Revolution was the most significant event in human economic history. But from the commercialization of the steam engine to having a measurable impact on GDP, it took a full 50 years. Before that, all the articles saying 'the end is near' were just too early."

Haseeb emphasizes that no one can accurately predict the timeline. "If 'imminent' means within two years? Unlikely. Within ten years? Possible. Within twenty to thirty years? Almost certain. It all depends on the timeline."

"AI will definitely be a disruptive technology. But 'when' is a completely different question. Don't draw trend lines too aggressively unless you have good reason to believe it's already happening."

Survival Rules in a Bear Market: Stay at the Table

At the end of the interview, Haseeb brings the topic back to the current market: a crypto bear market characterized by low sentiment and wavering confidence.

He candidly admits this is a tough time: "It's very difficult for those who entered this industry out of excitement and momentum. People treat price as a report card—when prices drop, they feel like they've done something wrong. But if you stay long enough, you know that's not true."

Haseeb points out that the market event on October 11 last year was a key turning point. On that day, U.S. President Trump threatened to impose 100% tariffs on Chinese goods on Truth Social, coupled with China's newly announced export controls on rare earths, leading to a sharp sell-off of global risk assets. The crypto market was hit hardest—Bitcoin plummeted 13% in an hour, Ethereum dropped over 16%, and many altcoins halved or even went to zero within minutes.

"That day, multiple exchanges crashed, and we experienced the largest single-day liquidation in crypto history—over $19 billion in leveraged positions were forcibly closed, and 1.6 million trading accounts were liquidated," Haseeb recalls. The scale of this disaster was nearly 20 times that of the COVID crash in 2020 and far exceeded the liquidation volume during the FTX collapse in 2022.

"But what was truly perplexing was what happened afterward," Haseeb said. "If you look at the price movements of Bitcoin alongside the Nasdaq and S&P 500—they began to diverge after 10/11. U.S. stocks rebounded, but crypto did not follow. There has been some fundamental shift in market structure, and we still don't have a satisfactory explanation."

He believes that it is precisely because of the lack of a clear 'why' that this bear market has had a particularly heavy psychological impact on people.

But he is not so pessimistic about the future of the crypto market.

"The crypto market is driven by momentum; it has autocorrelation. When momentum starts in one direction, it continues. But the reverse is also true—when the momentum of recovery starts, it will also continue."

He concludes with a piece of wisdom from the poker table, which is also the core belief of his eight-year crypto career:

"In the world of crypto, the first lesson you learn is the importance of 'surviving.'

As long as you're still at the table, you can see what happens next.

The only way you lose is by being eliminated.

As long as you're not eliminated, you have a seat.

As long as you have a seat, you can enjoy the feast."

About Dragonfly Capital

Dragonfly is one of the most influential crypto venture capital firms globally, with over $5 billion in assets under management. Co-led by Bo Feng and Haseeb Qureshi, the team spans San Francisco and Asia, with a portfolio that includes dozens of iconic projects such as Polymarket, Ethena, MakerDAO, Compound, Avalanche, and NEAR Protocol. In February 2026, Dragonfly completed its fourth fund, raising $650 million, focusing on stablecoins, DeFi, prediction markets, and AI Agent payment infrastructure.

About 168X

168X is a top dialogue platform that deeply connects Eastern wisdom with Western innovation, dedicated to exploring how technology, capital, and human wisdom will reshape the future of human civilization. The program focuses on cutting-edge fields such as AI, blockchain, robotics, space technology, and bioengineering, engaging in dialogues with global leaders and thought builders to reveal the core drivers of future wealth and innovation from a unique dual perspective of East and West. The program is hosted by ex-banker Mr. Z.