Ryan Watkins

Ryan Watkins is a co-founder of Syncracy Capital, a thesis-driven crypto hedge fund based in New York. Before founding Syncracy Capital, Watkins served as a Senior Research Analyst at Messari and as an Investment Banking Analyst at Moelis & Company. His professional path moved from traditional investment banking into cryptocurrency research and management.

Early Life and Education

Ryan Watkins attended Seton Hall Preparatory School from 2010 to 2014. ^[2] He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Finance and Computer Science from Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business, from 2014 to 2018. ^{[2] [3]}

Career Prior to Syncracy

Watkins first encountered Bitcoin in 2014, when a friend introduced him to the digital currency through the Silk Road marketplace—a detail attributed to a lower-reliability tertiary source and is noted as such. ^[4] His interest in cryptocurrencies developed further during college, particularly after attending the Consensus conference in 2016 and during the 2017 Ethereum bull market. ^[5]

After graduation, Watkins joined Moelis & Company in July 2018 as an Investment Banking Analyst, where he worked until October 2019, covering deals in the technology, telecom, and fintech sectors. ^[6]

Watkins joined Messari in fall 2019 as a Research Analyst (October 2019–September 2020) and was later promoted to Senior Research Analyst (September 2020–December 2021). At Messari, he was among the early analysts to explore and explain emerging on-chain data, contributing to the firm’s research efforts. ^{[6] [2]}

Syncracy Capital

In 2022, Ryan Watkins co-founded Syncracy Capital with Daniel Cheung. ^[2] Syncracy Capital is based in New York and follows a thesis-driven approach to concentrated investments in select cryptocurrency projects. Per independent reporting, Syncracy launched with approximately $85 million in seed funding, backed by investors including Bain Capital. ^[6]

The firm has published research theses on projects including Solana and Hyperliquid that argue for their long-term positioning in the cryptoeconomy. In his commentary, Watkins has referenced and built on the Solana Foundation's 'Internet Capital Markets' thesis, arguing that Solana is well-positioned to capture growth as capital markets and payments use cases move on-chain. ^{[5] [1]}

Public Presence and Media

Watkins maintains a public presence through social media and industry publications, where he shares analysis on market dynamics, revenue estimation practices within the crypto industry, and developments around regulation and adoption of blockchain technologies. ^[1]

He also participates in public speaking and industry collaborations that address the potential and challenges associated with blockchain and cryptocurrencies. ^[7]

Watkins continues to lead investment research and strategy at Syncracy Capital.