Taking the long view on digital assets
Taking the long view on digital assets
Some New Zealand investors appear to be extending their time horizons in digital assets, with participation increasingly reflecting how underlying technologies and networks develop over time rather than how prices move week to week.
Scott Lester, Director at Crossgate Capital, a New Zealand firm focused on digital asset portfolio management, says the firm's own approach has always sat at the medium-to-long-term end of that spectrum.
"We don't try to trade short‑term price movements," Lester says. "Our focus is on how digital asset networks develop, how they sustain relevance, and how that translates into a portfolio held with a medium‑to‑long‑term view."
A shift away from short-term price focus
In Lester's personal view, the early phase of the digital asset market was often shaped by immediacy. Price movements drove attention, and attention drove decisions. Access was limited and information was not as readily available.
"As participation has broadened, the conditions shaping investment decisions seem to be changing," he says. "More investors are placing weight on how assets function, how networks evolve, and how adoption builds across different use cases. Those factors take time to play out."
He says that, in his personal view, this is a healthy direction for the sector.
"When the conversation moves from 'where is the price this week?' to 'is this network being used, is it being built on, is it staying relevant?', the basis for decisions becomes more grounded."
Why Crossgate Capital considers a medium-to-long-term view fits the asset class
Lester says digital assets sit within ecosystems that depend on ongoing participation from users, developers and institutions. Growth in those ecosystems typically follows a progression of experimentation, refinement and broader integration, and each stage takes time.
"Cycles in this market reflect a mix of macroeconomic conditions, technological progress and changes in participation," he says. "They are observable, but their timing is difficult to predict with precision. We don't position the portfolio around short‑term cycles. We position it around the longer arc of how we expect these networks to develop."
How this shapes Crossgate Capital's portfolio
Crossgate Capital has been a specialist crypto investor since 2019. It actively manages a diversified portfolio that includes established market leaders such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, alongside other carefully selected assets considered consistent with its investment approach. The portfolio currently holds 13 digital assets across a range of categories, including established names alongside more specialised holdings.
"Longer time horizons allow us to assess whether a project continues to build, attract users and remain relevant within its category," Lester says. "We consider that creates a more consistent basis for decision making than relying on short‑term price signals alone."
He says taking a medium-to-long-term view changes the questions Crossgate Capital asks before an asset is added to the portfolio in the first place. Rather than focusing on recent price action, the firm looks at whether the network behind an asset is being used, whether development continues, and whether the asset still has a role in its category.
“We stay close to how each asset is developing, how its category is evolving, and whether the original reasons for holding it still apply," Lester says.
Lester is also clear that none of this removes the underlying risk of the asset class. Digital assets remain a high-risk, volatile investment, and prices can move sharply in either direction over short periods.
