From Digital Collectibles to Fossils: Cryptocurrency Investors Shift Focus to Unique Physical Assets

A 69-million-year-old triceratops fossil has emerged as the latest acquisition among affluent crypto investors, marking a transition from digital collectibles.

Key Takeaways:

• Wintermute’s Yoann Turpin and other crypto investors have acquired a rare triceratops fossil, indicating a shift from NFTs to extremely scarce physical assets.
• The fossil is housed in Singapore’s Le Freeport alongside tokenized gold, fine art, and significant crypto holdings.
• While some pursue prestigious collectibles, others are advancing regulated stablecoin initiatives in Malaysia.

According to a recent Bloomberg report, Wintermute co-founder Yoann Turpin and a select group of crypto investors have discreetly acquired a fully intact dinosaur fossil.

This fossil, one of only 24 known specimens, is now located within Le Freeport in Singapore, a secure storage facility owned by crypto billionaire Jihan Wu, often referred to as “Asia’s Fort Knox.”

Inside the Vault Where Crypto Wealth Meets Dinosaur Bones

During a visit to the vault with Turpin and co-owners, including collectibles entrepreneur Chaw Wei Yang, Bloomberg’s Suvashree Ghosh discovered that the dinosaur was not the only remarkable find.

The corridors were adorned with tokenized gold bars, fine art, rare wines, and hard drives containing hundreds of millions in digital assets, showcasing a tangible archive of crypto wealth that extends well beyond the blockchain, as reported.

Turpin conveyed to the media that the purchase was driven by both passion and prestige, reflecting a trend that has permeated the upper echelons of the industry.

Last year, Citadel’s Ken Griffin acquired a nearly complete stegosaurus for $44.6 million, setting a record for the highest price ever paid for a fossil at auction.

For the newly wealthy in crypto, the transition from NFTs to fossils signifies a broader movement towards ultra-scarce, physical collectibles, assets that cannot abruptly disappear due to a protocol upgrade.

Nonetheless, while some crypto figures are unearthing dinosaurs, others are developing new digital asset infrastructure.

BAYC falls below 5 ETH for the first time since August 2021
NFTs have faced significant declines, and its flagship, BAYC, is no exception
However, there is a factor beyond the general NFT market contributing to BAYC dropping below 5 ETH…
What is it?
ApeCoin staking rewards conclude today… pic.twitter.com/rfwZG1DHr1

— JBond (@jbondwagon) December 12, 2025

Recently, Malaysia’s crown prince, Tunku Ismail Ibrahim, introduced RMJDT, a ringgit-backed stablecoin through his firm Bullish Aim.

AirAsia parent Capital A and Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia are also investigating a ringgit-pegged token as part of the nation’s digital asset pilot programs, indicating a rising interest in regulated stablecoin projects.

Meta Retreats From Metaverse as AI Glasses Take Center Stage

As reported, Meta is scaling back its investments in the metaverse division and redirecting its focus towards AI-driven glasses and wearable technology, representing one of its most significant strategic shifts in years.

This decision follows increasing investor doubts regarding the commercial potential of virtual environments and large-scale VR platforms.

The company has invested over a decade and billions of dollars in developing its metaverse vision, including its rebranding to Meta in 2021.

However, user growth on Horizon Worlds has plateaued, and headset sales have consistently fallen short of projections.

Bloomberg indicated that spending on the metaverse may be reduced by as much as 30%, signaling to markets that the company is realigning its priorities.

Meanwhile, NFT sales have plummeted to their lowest levels of the year, with monthly volume decreasing to $320 million in November, approximately half of October’s total.

Data from early December reveals only $62 million in sales during the first week, suggesting that the slowdown is likely to persist as demand for digital collectibles diminishes.

This decline reflects a significant drop in NFT valuations across the board. CoinGecko data indicates that the sector’s market capitalization has decreased to $3.1 billion, a 66% drop from January’s peak of $9.2 billion.

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