ReSolve Riffs: Special Situation Investing in Crypto and Beyond

This is “ReSolve’s Riffs” – live on YouTube every Friday afternoon to debate the most relevant investment topics of the day, hosted by Adam Butler, Mike Philbrick and Rodrigo Gordillo of ReSolve Global* and Richard Laterman of ReSolve Asset Management.

Following our first conversation with David Fauchier (Portfolio Manager at Nickel Digital Asset Management), he insisted that we had to speak with Thomas Braziel, Founder and CIO of 507 Capital, who he claimed was one of the most interesting and independently-minded investors he had met in the digital asset space. With David as co-host, our awesome conversation with Thomas covered topics such as:

  1. Why almost all his stories begin with a bankruptcy
  2. Opportunities that don’t scale tend to offer the juiciest returns
  3. The reason some of these trades work is precisely because they are not scalable
  4. His perspective on the Mt. Gox debacle and why he has been buying claims on it for years
  5. Claims investing – why many distressed assets fly under the radar of most allocators
  6. His unique investment style – if Soros and Buffet had an ‘investment love child’
  7. Different models for claims investing – from complex factoring to ‘loon shot buccaneering’

Getting along with all the players in the space can be a form of alpha

We went deep into the inner workings of the space, including how different countries treat personal liabilities in bankruptcies, the contrasts between English Common Law and the US legal system, and what it means to go ‘forum shopping’. Yet another highly entertaining and educational episode and we hope you enjoy it.

Thank you for watching and listening. See you next week.

Latest

Can Markets Keep Their Cool? July 2025 HANDLS Monthly Report

Politics Trumps the Numbers, Can Markets Keep Their Cool?

The Calm Before the Storm: A Volatility Pro’s Reflection on Markets at All-Time Highs

We’ve lived this movie before. Last August, AAII bullish sentiment struck a 52-week high right before the Fed launched its September rate cutting cycle.

The Ripple Effect: How Smart Money Uses the VIX to Beat Market Panic

An options trader’s perspective on why the “fear index” is actually your portfolio’s best friend

The Volatility Trader’s Reality Check: Markets Do What Markets Do

For those curious about how a volatility trader who also manages portfolios thinks, let me cut through the noise.

Newsletter

Don't miss

Can Markets Keep Their Cool? July 2025 HANDLS Monthly Report

Politics Trumps the Numbers, Can Markets Keep Their Cool?

The Calm Before the Storm: A Volatility Pro’s Reflection on Markets at All-Time Highs

We’ve lived this movie before. Last August, AAII bullish sentiment struck a 52-week high right before the Fed launched its September rate cutting cycle.

The Ripple Effect: How Smart Money Uses the VIX to Beat Market Panic

An options trader’s perspective on why the “fear index” is actually your portfolio’s best friend

The Volatility Trader’s Reality Check: Markets Do What Markets Do

For those curious about how a volatility trader who also manages portfolios thinks, let me cut through the noise.

Navigating Trade Winds: HANDLS Indexes Showcase Resiliency in May 2025

The HANDLS Indexes Monthly Income Report for May 2025 underscores notable recoveries across sectors, propelled by easing tariff and trade uncertainties.
Adam Butler, CFA, CAIA
Adam Butler, CFA, CAIA
Adam Butler is Chief Investment Officer of ReSolve Asset Management, sub-advisor to an alternative allocation strategy at Rational Funds. He manages ETF and futures based strategies including a global risk parity ETF, two Adaptive Asset Allocation funds, and a multi-strategy hedge fund. Adam is also author of the book Adaptive Asset Allocation: Dynamic Global Portfolios to Profit in Good Times and is ranked in the top 1% of authors by paper downloads on SSRN. He has authored over a dozen papers and dozens of articles on asset allocation; factor investing; quantitative methods; and portfolio optimization. Adam holds both CFA and CAIA charters and appears on BNN Bloomberg and CNBC.

Can Markets Keep Their Cool? July 2025 HANDLS Monthly Report

Politics Trumps the Numbers, Can Markets Keep Their Cool?

The Calm Before the Storm: A Volatility Pro’s Reflection on Markets at All-Time Highs

We’ve lived this movie before. Last August, AAII bullish sentiment struck a 52-week high right before the Fed launched its September rate cutting cycle.

The Ripple Effect: How Smart Money Uses the VIX to Beat Market Panic

An options trader’s perspective on why the “fear index” is actually your portfolio’s best friend