Long before Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, corporate Bitcoin treasuries and today's institutional cryptocurrency market, Wright Thurston was already thinking about digital assets as part of a much older investment philosophy.
- Look for value where other people aren't looking.
- Diversify.
- Think long term.
- And don't assume the traditional way of building wealth is the only way.
An old episode of The Mentor Podcast, hosted by real estate investor Ron LeGrand, provides an interesting time capsule of that philosophy.
The conversation appears to have been recorded in 2018 — Bitcoin was trading around $6,500 during the discussion and the hosts referenced an upcoming 2019 event — and Thurston's enthusiasm for cryptocurrency is striking in hindsight.
But Bitcoin was only part of the conversation. Thurston was thinking about everything from real estate and cryptocurrency to old comic books, artwork and travel rewards. The common thread was finding overlooked value.
A 10-Cent Comic Book Worth $1,300
One of the simplest examples came from a box of old comic books. Thurston recalled discovering hundreds of comics he had purchased as a teenager more than 50 years earlier. For fun, he listed one on eBay. Within about 10 minutes, he said someone offered him $1,300 for it. His original purchase price? Ten cents.
It's an extreme example, but it illustrates something worth remembering. Not every asset that accumulates value looks like an investment when you acquire it. Artwork, coins, books, sports cards, comics and other collectibles can sit forgotten for decades while markets develop around them.
The Other Side of Collectibles: Giving Them Away
Thurston also discussed another strategy involving appreciated assets: charitable giving. He described donating a painting he had owned for years to a university's special collection. According to Thurston, an independent appraisal valued the work at nearly $100,000. Rather than selling the painting, he donated it.
That distinction mattered because he was interested not only in an asset's market value, but also in how appreciated property could fit into a broader charitable and tax strategy. Thurston repeatedly emphasized during the conversation that he was not a CPA and relied on tax professionals.
That caveat is important. Rules governing charitable deductions for appreciated property are complex, and strategies discussed in an older podcast shouldn't be treated as current tax advice.
The larger idea, however, remains interesting: an asset can have more than one kind of value. There is the price someone will pay for it. There may also be charitable, estate-planning or tax considerations surrounding what you ultimately choose to do with it. Understanding those differences is part of managing wealth rather than simply accumulating things.
Looking Beyond the Traditional Portfolio
Thurston's enthusiasm for alternative assets wasn't limited to collectibles. During the conversation, he casually described moving between real estate projects, cryptocurrencies, collectibles and even maximizing airline miles and points. To him, finding these opportunities was fun. But he also said something revealing: it was even more enjoyable to teach those lessons to his children, grandchildren and clients.
That mindset is very different from chasing one investment that's supposed to make you rich. It's a search for small advantages across many areas of financial life.
- Reduce an expense here.
- Find an undervalued asset there.
- Build another income stream.
- Use a benefit you're already entitled to.
- Learn something that changes the way you allocate capital.
Individually, some of those decisions may appear insignificant. Over decades, they can compound.
Then the Conversation Turned to Bitcoin
At roughly the 13-minute mark, LeGrand changed subjects. What was Thurston doing in cryptocurrency? Buying.
At the time, Bitcoin had fallen dramatically from its late-2017 peak near $20,000 and was trading around $6,500. Thurston viewed the decline as an opportunity. He told listeners that when liquid cash came in from other ventures, he sometimes preferred buying some Bitcoin rather than leaving all of that money in a bank account earning very little interest. He also pointed out something that was still unfamiliar to many mainstream investors at the time: you didn't need enough money to purchase an entire Bitcoin.
His predictions were bullish — extremely bullish in places. And not every prediction or assumption made during a 2018 cryptocurrency conversation should be treated as financial guidance today.
What's more interesting is why he was looking at Bitcoin at all.
A Real Estate Investor Looking for the Next Asset Class
By this point, Thurston said he had been investing in real estate for close to 40 years. He wasn't proposing abandoning it. Quite the opposite. Real estate remained part of his strategy. Cryptocurrency was another category.
Thurston and LeGrand explicitly discussed diversification and said they were not suggesting people put most of their assets into cryptocurrency. They also made clear that they were not licensed securities brokers and were discussing what they personally were doing rather than telling listeners what to buy.
Later, they returned to the diversification point. Their argument was essentially that people can become so focused on their businesses, careers and real estate that they fail to allocate even a small amount of capital toward emerging industries. You can't know which new technology will ultimately succeed. That uncertainty is precisely why diversification matters.
It's a remarkably recognizable investment debate today. Only the asset has changed.
The Value of the Historical Record
It's easy to look backward at Bitcoin's history and make the outcome seem obvious. It wasn't. When this conversation took place, Bitcoin had suffered a brutal decline from its previous high. Cryptocurrency regulation was uncertain. Institutional participation was limited compared with today. People had plenty of reasons to believe the experiment might fail.
Thurston was buying anyway. Not because he knew what would happen next — he explicitly acknowledged that he didn't have special inside information — but because he believed the potential upside justified allocating some capital to an emerging asset while maintaining investments elsewhere.
That is a more useful lesson than simply saying someone was "early" to Bitcoin. Being early usually doesn't feel early. It feels uncertain.
Quiet Wealth Is Often About Optionality
The broader conversation reveals something about Thurston's approach to money.
- Real estate.
- Collectibles.
- Stocks.
- Bitcoin.
- Tax strategy.
- Travel rewards.
- Education.
None was presented as the single secret to wealth. They were tools. And the more tools someone understands, the more options they potentially have when circumstances change. That is a form of financial resilience.
Someone dependent on one employer, one business, one asset or one investment thesis has fewer options when that particular source runs into trouble. Someone who has spent decades learning how different assets and financial systems work has more places to look.
Perhaps the Best Investment Wasn't Bitcoin
Near the end of the conversation, Thurston brought up an idea commonly attributed to Benjamin Franklin:
He then made the point in his own words. Invest in yourself. Invest in your future. Invest in your family's future.
That may be the most enduring investment idea in the entire interview. The price of Bitcoin has changed dramatically since this conversation. So have tax laws, interest rates, technology and financial markets. A comic book worth $1,300 today could be worth more or less tomorrow.
But the ability to recognize value, understand different asset classes, ask better questions and continually learn doesn't depend on any one market. That's the quieter version of wealth building. You don't need to predict the future perfectly. You need to keep learning enough to recognize opportunity when it appears.