Onramp CEO Michael Tanguma: Bond Holders Are Rotating Into Gold and Bitcoin as Real Yields Go Negative
Michael Tanguma, founder and CEO of the Bitcoin custody and advisory firm Onramp, joined Simply Bitcoin Live to walk through why he thinks the traditional financial advisor playbook is breaking down in real time, and why gold and Bitcoin are the two assets left standing when it does.
A MARKET THAT WON'T DO WHAT IT'S SUPPOSED TO
Tanguma opened by pointing to a tweet he posted after Bitcoin rallied on the back of the Fed's rate hike, an outcome that traditional models say should have punished the asset. His read on the moment was direct: nobody controls the price anymore, and the price itself is the signal worth watching. Asked how significant it was that Bitcoin didn't get destroyed by the hike, he called it a pretty big deal, adding that he considers the current environment the most uncharted territory he can remember, citing the AI buildout, the Iran and Ukraine conflicts, and the volume of Treasuries being sold alongside gold's run over the past two years.
He argued that a real regulatory framework is quietly being assembled behind the scenes across major institutions, and that the market is often reacting to developments after the plumbing for tokenized deposits, tokenized securities, and Bitcoin custody has already been built, rather than anticipating it.
WHY THE CLARITY ACT FAILED
On the Clarity Act's collapse in the Senate, Tanguma said he expected it to pass because the administration wants stablecoins and Bitcoin to proliferate as a tool for the dollar's global reach, but he underestimated the internal politics: enough senators on both sides had reasons, procedural or otherwise, not to put their names on it. He pointed to the SEC and CFTC's swift action in the days after the vote failed as evidence that the agencies are moving forward with rulemaking regardless of whether Congress ever passes a statute.
THE CASE FOR ROTATION OUT OF BONDS
Asked whether bond holders are actually rotating into Bitcoin, Tanguma was more measured than the popular narrative. He said the more likely path for individual bondholders is toward gold or private equity rather than Bitcoin directly, while sovereigns and institutions face a different set of forces tied to global carry trades, where rising rates in one country can force currency sales elsewhere.
His underlying argument is about real versus nominal returns. He described the gap between a portfolio's nominal gains and the real cost of living as the central lie retail investors have been told for years, and pointed to everyday price increases, from groceries to hotel rooms, as the tell that inflation is running well above the official print. In his framing, that gap is what eventually pushes both individuals and sovereigns toward assets that cannot be debased, which narrows down to two: gold, and Bitcoin, which he described as gold with the added ability to move at the speed of a wire.
THE PITCH FOR A BITCOIN-NATIVE ADVISOR
Tanguma drew a clear line between a Bitcoin-native financial advisor and a traditional one built around legacy portfolio theory. His view is that the individual investor, not the institution, is Bitcoin's most sophisticated holder because individuals have survived a decade of exchange collapses and volatility with no board or compliance department to lean on. Institutions move slower because every allocation has to clear a governance process, which he framed as the reason regulatory clarity will ultimately be forced by capital flows rather than legislation.
He closed by describing the current period as the most bullish moment for individual agency in history, pointing to the combination of ubiquitous internet access, increasingly available AI tools, and Bitcoin as a store of value nobody can debase. His closing advice for holders was simple: focus on building real value, hold the asset properly, and let the long-term price appreciation take care of itself.
This story comes from the Simply Bitcoin Live show. Watch the full episode.
