David Bateman — an entrepreneur who founded Entrata, grew it to a valuation of over $1 billion, and then sold it — now holds his capital in precious metals. He frames his position bluntly: the financial system is a time bomb, and its collapse is inevitable. For an investor who has been through the full cycle of building and exiting a tech unicorn, this is not an emotional gesture but a deliberate strategy for hedging systemic risk.
Bateman's logic rests on separating the functions of capital. Money that may be needed in the coming years should not be put into precious metals. But funds set aside as "extra" need not be tracked daily at all — their job is not to generate income but to survive the moment when the usual financial mechanisms stop working.
Lessons from history: gold
The history of gold illustrates the case for patience well. Anyone who bought the metal in 2016 and watched the chart every day saw nothing remarkable for three years. But then the price rose severalfold:
- early 2016 — about $1,115 per ounce;
- from 2016 to 2019 — the price essentially stood still;
- end of 2025 — $4,318;
- January 2026 — a record $5,417.
In the end, $1,000 invested in gold in October 2016 had turned into roughly $6,285 by October 2026. That is about 20% per year — a result most active strategies do not deliver over a long horizon.
Silver: higher returns, deeper drawdowns
Silver rose even more over the same ten years, but the path was noticeably more jagged:
- August 2016 — $20.63 per ounce;
- May 2024 — the price rose above $30 for the first time in ten years;
- January 2026 — a record $116.70;
- September 2026 — a pullback to $65.
Over ten years, silver gained about 400%. But along the way there were long years without movement and sharp drops after peaks — the classic profile of a volatile defensive asset.
What Bateman is preparing for
The entrepreneur calls the financial system a time bomb and states plainly that its collapse is inevitable. His advice to investors: don't worry about how much gold or silver costs today, but prepare for a future crisis. He buys metals not for quick profit but in case the system really does collapse — and for that purpose, today's price is of no fundamental importance.
Cryptalist analysis: Bateman's case reflects a broader trend — institutional and "post-exit" capital increasingly views precious metals not as a speculative instrument but as insurance against systemic risks. Record levels in gold and silver themselves become a source of volatility, which requires investors to clearly separate liquid and defensive capital. For the crypto market, this narrative is twofold: it strengthens demand for "digital gold" as an alternative hedge, but at the same time signals growing macroeconomic anxiety.