From Blockchain to Brick-and-Mortar: Jordan Fried’s Evolution as an Investor

As the blockchain world experiences its characteristic volatility, one of its early evangelists has quietly been diversifying his portfolio and investment philosophy. Jordan Fried, once primarily known for his blockchain ventures, has evolved his approach to investing—moving from speculative digital assets to stable, cash-flowing businesses across multiple sectors.

Blockchain Beginnings

Fried’s journey in the investment world gained significant momentum through blockchain technology. As a founder and the largest investor in Hedera, a layer one blockchain protocol, he positioned himself early in what would become one of the most transformative technologies of the decade. This early foray established him as a blockchain evangelist with a knack for identifying emerging trends before they hit the mainstream.

The vision behind Fried’s early blockchain investment strategy reflected his thesis at the time: while direct exposure to blockchain assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum had become relatively accessible, there wasn’t a good vehicle for investors to gain equity exposure to the blockchain sector.

The NFT Boom and Bust

Perhaps Fried’s most notable blockchain investment was purchasing the domain nft.com for $2 million in 2020, before non-fungible tokens entered the public consciousness. This prescient move positioned him perfectly for the NFT boom that followed, with the domain becoming the foundation for a marketplace designed to be “ground zero, the center of the NFT world.”

When the NFT market exploded, with everyone from TikTok influencers to pop star Justin Bieber spending millions on digital artwork like “Bored Apes,” Fried’s early investment seemed brilliant. He established an NFT exchange as one of his core businesses, creating a marketplace for buying and selling NFTs that showed promising early traction.

However, this market proved fickle. Fried watched as public interest in NFTs dramatically declined, with trading volumes plummeting. “I built a marketplace. It’s still up, it still works, but people just aren’t that excited about spending a hundred thousand dollars for a monkey picture as they were in 2021,” he reflects. “I think that was a phenomenon of zero interest rate environments. Rates were zero, money was free or cheap, and people were just doing a lot of things that they’re not doing when rates are five to 7%.”

The Blockchain Business Challenge

The NFT market volatility highlighted a more fundamental realization for Fried about the blockchain business landscape: “There aren’t that many companies cash flowing in the blockchain space.”

While his asset management business found success—turning an $8 million investment in H Bar into “over a few hundred million dollars of return”—the broader thesis of rolling up cash-flowing blockchain businesses faced significant challenges. The reality was that most blockchain entities weren’t primarily cashflow businesses.

“Bitcoin doesn’t make money as a company,” Fried points out. “Bitcoin is an asset that goes up or down based on the number of people that want to buy it and that want to hold it.” This fundamental distinction between appreciating assets and cash-generating businesses became increasingly clear as Fried evaluated the sector.

Furthermore, the few blockchain businesses that did generate steady cash flow were primarily “asset management businesses and/or exchanges,” limiting the diversification potential for a holding company focused solely on blockchain equity.

Pivoting to Traditional Business Models

These realizations led Fried to reconsider his investment approach. The entrepreneur began shifting toward more traditional business models with proven cash flow potential—albeit still with a technology focus.

“The business itself of rolling up blockchain companies, I feel like the thesis is less good in doing this in the blockchain space and far more validated in just buying cash flowing businesses independent of sector,” Fried explains.

This pivot is perhaps best exemplified by his investment in a decidedly non-blockchain venture: Burger Social, a burger chain in Puerto Rico that Fried jokingly refers to as his “nonprofit foundation because restaurants are notoriously not profitable.” Despite the humorous framing, the business serves a concrete purpose, creating “hundreds of jobs” on an island still recovering from Hurricane Maria’s devastation in 2017.

For Fried, these investments in physical businesses represent something blockchain often lacks: tangible impact in local communities. Operating locations in San Juan, Guaynabo, and Ponce, Burger Social has become one of the island’s best-rated burger restaurants, serving fresh, natural ingredients including plant-based options.

The New Investment Thesis: Sticky Cash-Flowing Businesses

Fried’s evolved investment thesis now centers around identifying and acquiring what he calls “really sticky cash flowing businesses that will still exist in 10 years.” While he acknowledges traditional private equity targets like HVAC and plumbing companies as examples of such businesses, his focus remains technology-oriented.

“I’m a technologist. So what are the HVAC plumbing equivalents in the B2B software as a service space that we can buy that are super sticky? Customers are really dependent on them,” he explains.

This approach has led him to investments in B2B software tools that help businesses operate more efficiently—technologies that may lack the headline-grabbing potential of blockchain or NFTs but offer something potentially more valuable: sustainability and reliable cash flow.

In Fried’s new model, he often takes a significant ownership stake while leaving the original founders in leadership positions, providing capital and periodic guidance while allowing them to continue running daily operations. This partnership approach reflects his view of these acquisitions as relationships rather than mere transactions.

“It’s hard to even call them purchases as much as they are like partnerships,” Fried explains. “I very much view these as our companies are our partners in the businesses that we operate together and we sort of intervene. Really great businesses are already really great, and sometimes they just need a nudge in a different direction.”

Building a Legacy Through Longevity

As Fried transitions from blockchain speculation to more traditional business investments, his philosophy has shifted from rapid growth to long-term stability. His business approach reflects this change, representing his desire to build something lasting in a world where few things are permanent.

“There’s very few things in life that are immutable,” Fried says. “I think really cool legacies are solving really hard problems and building really great brands that live for a really long period of time.”

He cites Warren Buffett’s investment in See’s Candy as inspiration—a relatively mundane business that has generated enormous returns through steady compounding over decades. This echoes Buffett’s own origin story with Berkshire Hathaway, which began as “merely a boring textile business that was purchased that he used the cashflow from which to buy other businesses.”

For Fried, this represents the next chapter in his investment journey: “My goal is to buy really great businesses that could stand the test of time and then leave a great legacy of excellence in that space.”

While he hasn’t abandoned blockchain entirely—he still holds his domain names and maintains blockchain investments—his evolution reflects a maturing perspective. Rather than chasing the next speculative boom, Fried now focuses on businesses with enduring value propositions that solve real problems for customers willing to pay for solutions, regardless of market conditions or interest rates.

This evolution from blockchain evangelist to diversified business investor represents not just a shift in strategy, but a deeper understanding of sustainable value creation—suggesting that for all its transformative potential, blockchain may be just one component of a truly resilient investment approach.