What Gives Tokens Value? with Mike Dudas, Managing Partner at 6MV | EP 168
Dropping a podcast with @mdudas, Managing Partner at @6thManVentures A crypto business can make money without that money reaching its token holders. In this episode I wanted to talk with Mike about what gives a token value and who benefits when the business grows. We get into how he built 6MV, why he invests in applications, and how he thinks about returning money to investors when a business might not stay ahead for long. A big part of the conversation is about tokens and equity. Mike thinks teams need to explain what people are buying, where the revenue goes, and how token holders benefit. We talk about buybacks and how much control holders really have. We also get into why trading apps need better assets and fewer ways for users to lose money, his views on Solana, Hyperliquid, and Ethereum, and where crypto fits into AI. We discuss - How Mike built 6MV - What makes a crypto business last - When to sell and return money to investors - Stablecoins, lending, and prediction markets - Social trading, slippage, and keeping users - Solana, Hyperliquid, and what gives ETH value - Tokens, equity, buybacks, and what holders actually own - Why Mike calls XRP and Cardano “memes for suits” - AI agents, payments, and compute markets - Whether AI companies are worth their valuations Timestamps 0:00 – What Gives Tokens Value? 0:58 – Mike Dudas and the Origins of 6MV 6:20 – Liquidity and Returning Capital to Investors 10:16 – Real Adoption Beyond Crypto Token Prices 16:56 – Crypto Apathy and the Rise of AI 21:43 – Why 6MV Changed Its Consumer Investing Thesis 26:34 – Social Trading, Slippage, and Better Assets 36:25 – Solana, Hyperliquid, and the Chain Landscape 39:37 – The Problem with ETH’s Value Proposition 43:16 – Tokens, Equity, and Where the Money Goes 46:21 – Governance Tokens, XRP, and Cardano 49:40 – Where Crypto Meets AI 55:38 – Are AI Valuations in a Bubble? 58:42 – The Next Five Years of Crypto Enjoy!