Scaramucci’s preferred crypto mix of Bitcoin, Solana, Ethereum and Avalanche is currently underwater, despite being pitched as a long-term winner’s circle rather than a short-term trade.
An illustrative $1,000 invested equally into the four assets at the very start of 2025 — $250 in each of Bitcoin (BTC), Solana (SOL), Ethereum (ETH) and Avalanche (AVAX) — would now be worth less than the original stake, based on current market pricing. The basket has slipped below breakeven as each component has suffered from market-wide weakness, though not all to the same degree.
The notional portfolio tracks the public preferences of Anthony Scaramucci, founder of SkyBridge Capital, who has openly positioned himself as a high-conviction crypto investor. Over recent years, he has stated that more than half of his personal net worth is allocated to Bitcoin, a share that expanded as BTC rallied through previous bull markets. Rather than trimming into strength, he built up his exposure as prices climbed, leaning into the “digital gold” narrative he frequently emphasizes.
However, while Bitcoin is a core holding, Scaramucci has repeatedly highlighted a small set of smart contract platforms as his major long-term bets on blockchain infrastructure. In his public commentary, he has singled out Solana, Ethereum and Avalanche as foundational networks he expects to persist and dominate as the industry consolidates around just a few winners.
In mid-December, Scaramucci elaborated on this view, arguing that the crypto ecosystem is transitioning from an experimental phase with hundreds of competing chains to a more mature landscape led by a handful of large, resilient platforms. In that framework, Solana plays a central role. He described it as one of the few networks likely to stand alongside Bitcoin and a small cluster of credible rivals over the coming decade.
He went further, noting that Solana is not just a top pick, but his single largest personal position — surpassing even Bitcoin in size. According to his remarks, he has his SOL holdings staked, meaning they are locked into the network’s consensus process in exchange for yield. This suggests a deeply long-term posture rather than an attempt to time short-term price swings. Alongside Solana, he acknowledged holding Bitcoin and Avalanche, while only maintaining a relatively modest exposure to Ethereum.
Despite this conviction, the hypothetical four-coin basket reflecting his stated preferences has not yet paid off for a 2025 start date. Market data indicates that each asset in the mix has pulled back, with some names suffering steeper drawdowns than others. The combined result is a portfolio that currently sits below the initial $1,000 outlay. For a new investor copying the thesis at the beginning of the year, the mark-to-market picture is negative.
Scaramucci, however, has consistently framed his crypto strategy as multi-year and thesis-driven rather than cyclical or purely speculative. In his view, Bitcoin is gradually maturing into a macro asset akin to digital gold — a store of value insulated, in the very long run, from monetary debasement. Solana and Avalanche, by contrast, are positioned as high-performance infrastructure layers intended to host applications, payments, financial services and other forms of on-chain activity at scale. Ethereum, even if a smaller part of his personal wallet, remains the benchmark smart contract platform around which a significant share of decentralized finance and tokenization still revolves.
The fact that the 2025 basket is currently at a loss doesn’t necessarily contradict that long-term framing. Crypto markets in 2025 have been marked by sharp volatility, abrupt sentiment shifts and a more challenging macro backdrop. Liquidity has rotated between sectors, regulatory actions have periodically spooked participants, and investors have repriced risk across both traditional and digital assets. In that environment, it is not unusual even for blue-chip cryptocurrencies to experience deep, rapid drawdowns.
For investors evaluating such a basket, the episode underscores a recurring lesson: timing matters, even when following high-profile conviction plays. Entering a concentrated crypto mix at the start of a year that turns out to be choppy can deliver immediate paper losses, no matter how strong the long-term story appears. Copying a public figure’s allocations is not a shortcut around volatility or risk.
At the same time, underperformance over a short window can coexist with a viable long-range thesis. If Scaramucci’s prediction of consolidation around a few dominant chains proves correct, a diversified bet on Bitcoin plus a small group of scalable layer-1 networks could still compound meaningfully over a five-to-ten-year horizon. The challenge for individual investors is whether they can tolerate the severe interim swings that come with such exposure.
The structure of the basket also raises questions about diversification quality. On paper, splitting capital among four different assets looks diversified. In practice, those assets are heavily correlated and all sit within the same macro-sensitive, regulation-dependent sector. When crypto sells off broadly, Bitcoin, Solana, Ethereum and Avalanche often move in the same direction, with varying intensity. The result is that the portfolio behaves more like a single high-beta crypto bet than a truly balanced allocation.
There is also concentration risk within the “smart contract platform” theme. Solana, Ethereum and Avalanche all compete, in some form, for similar use cases: decentralized applications, DeFi, NFTs, on-chain gaming, tokenization and more. If only one or two platforms capture the bulk of activity and value, the others may significantly underperform. In such a scenario, even if the overall market for blockchain infrastructure grows, a three-platform bet might include future laggards as well as winners.
Another point often overlooked is the difference between an early adopter’s cost basis and that of someone entering in 2025. Scaramucci’s positions in Bitcoin and other assets were built over multiple cycles, including far lower price levels. Even after substantial volatility, his overall crypto exposure can still be deeply profitable because of those early entries. A new investor who mirrors the same portfolio composition years later does not inherit that embedded cushion. They are exposed only to the current price and the uncertainty ahead.
The staked nature of his Solana holdings adds further nuance. Staking generates yield denominated in SOL, potentially increasing token count over time. For a long-term holder, this can help offset price weakness in the short term and accelerate gains in a bull cycle. Yet, the U.S. tax treatment, lock-up considerations and smart contract risks tied to staking services can complicate the picture for everyday investors who simply see “staking” as free extra income.
Within the broader 2025 landscape, the performance of this basket also reflects shifting narratives inside crypto itself. Investor attention has cycled between Bitcoin’s macro role, high-throughput chains, real-world asset tokenization, stablecoins, decentralized finance 2.0, and even non-financial use cases like digital identity. As narratives rotate, capital follows, rewarding some protocols while leaving others in drawdowns or stagnation for extended stretches.
Regulation remains another powerful driver. Headlines around enforcement actions, exchange oversight, stablecoin rules, and institutional access can whipsaw sentiment within days. Assets like Ethereum, Solana and Avalanche — with their emphasis on programmability, tokens and applications — are often perceived as carrying higher regulatory complexity than Bitcoin. That perceived risk premium can amplify their volatility in uncertain environments.
For individuals considering a similar four-coin allocation, this case study highlights several practical takeaways:
– A concentrated crypto basket can fall below breakeven quickly, even if built from widely regarded “top-tier” assets.
– Following a celebrity or institutional investor’s public allocation does not remove the need for personal risk management, diversification beyond crypto, and a clear time horizon.
– A multi-year thesis must be matched with a multi-year emotional and financial commitment; otherwise, short-term losses can push investors into panic selling at the worst possible moment.
– Staking and other yield strategies can support long-term compounding but introduce additional layers of risk and complexity that require separate due diligence.
Ultimately, Scaramucci’s Bitcoin–Solana–Ethereum–Avalanche basket illustrates the tension at the heart of crypto investing: the allure of transformative upside against the reality of frequent, sometimes brutal, drawdowns. His conviction rests on the belief that a small set of resilient networks will power the next generation of financial and digital infrastructure. Whether that vision compensates investors for the current red numbers in a 2025-starting portfolio will only become clear over a much longer timeframe than a few turbulent quarters.