The Last Trade E055: Financial Infrastructure for the Digital Age with Shalin Madan

Mark Valek, co-founder of Incrementum, joins The Last Trade to discuss how his firm built regulated funds combining gold and Bitcoin exposure, rooted in Austrian economics and a conviction that the fiat monetary system is fundamentally unsustainable. He traces his journey from post-GFC disillusionment with traditional finance to founding Incrementum in Liechtenstein in 2013, ultimately launching a regulated gold-Bitcoin blended fund in early 2020. Mark explains why Bitcoin's volatility is unlikely to converge with gold's due to structural differences, how the combination of hard assets helps traditional investors manage drawdown psychology, and why rebalancing between gold and Bitcoin is critical but behaviorally difficult. The conversation covers the broader macro thesis for overweighting real and monetary assets amid ongoing fiat debasement and geopolitical instability.