Cyrus Afkhami

Managing Director

Cyrus joined 13D in 2021, and leads the firm’s research in geopolitics and Bitcoin.

For geopolitics, his focus is to identify investment themes that will outperform as the geopolitical balance of power transitions from a unipolar to a multipolar world order.

Cyrus’s geopolitical analysis strips out the propaganda, mainstream narratives, ubiquitous groupthink and seeks to identify long-term geopolitical trends that will impact every investor’s portfolio. In a multipolar world order, geopolitics will become an increasingly important component to the investment decision-making process.

Cyrus’s geopolitics research is underpinned by three core tenets. The first is to read and study the lessons from history. The second is to read a wide range of non-Western materials. The third is to study primary sources, for example transcripts of major speeches, as well as defence and foreign policy press briefings.

This approach enables unfiltered access to form an independent and original analysis on the new emerging world order.

Cyrus also leads 13D’s Bitcoin research. Cyrus’s research is underpinned by years of self-study in multiple subjects including the Austrian school of economics, monetary economics, political economy, financial history, philosophy, geopolitics, game theory and network-based systems. His research covers a range of topics including Bitcoin’s immutable monetary properties, the critical role of energy expenditure to secure the network, the importance of Proof-of-Work, the Lightning Network, developments in Layer-2, and nation state adoption.

Cyrus brings a unique geopolitical angle to his Bitcoin research. The geopolitical implications of Bitcoin are one of the most under-appreciated and least discussed aspects of Bitcoin. This will become even more critical as we enter a multipolar world order.

While Cyrus’s research makes a clear distinction between Bitcoin and the rest of the Digital Assets ecosystem, his research has also covered Ethereum, regulatory developments, DeFi, stablecoins, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and CBDCs.

Cyrus also oversees Kiril Sokoloff’s many VC investments in crypto.

Prior to 13D, Cyrus founded an education company in 2011, building it into a leading education consultancy and private-tuition provider, focusing on the British education system. His 11 years of experience in the education industry have honed his ability to communicate complex topics in an accessible way.

He began his career in London, working in M&A at Lehman Brothers (later Nomura) before moving to Citigroup where he worked in the European Equity Capital Markets division.

Cyrus graduated from the University of Oxford with a First Class degree in History and Modern Languages, specialising in the Middle East. At Oxford, he was awarded an Academic scholarship. More recently, in 2019, he completed a course in Blockchain in Business from Columbia Business School Executive Education.

Cyrus Afkhami​

Managing Director

Cyrus joined 13D in 2021, and leads the firm’s research in geopolitics and Bitcoin.

For geopolitics, his focus is to identify investment themes that will outperform as the geopolitical balance of power transitions from a unipolar to a multipolar world order.

Cyrus’s geopolitical analysis strips out the propaganda, mainstream narratives, ubiquitous groupthink and seeks to identify long-term geopolitical trends that will impact every investor’s portfolio. In a multipolar world order, geopolitics will become an increasingly important component to the investment decision-making process.

Cyrus’s geopolitics research is underpinned by three core tenets. The first is to read and study the lessons from history. The second is to read a wide range of non-Western materials. The third is to study primary sources, for example transcripts of major speeches, as well as defence and foreign policy press briefings.

This approach enables unfiltered access to form an independent and original analysis on the new emerging world order.

Cyrus also leads 13D’s Bitcoin research. Cyrus’s research is underpinned by years of self-study in multiple subjects including the Austrian school of economics, monetary economics, political economy, financial history, philosophy, geopolitics, game theory and network-based systems. His research covers a range of topics including Bitcoin’s immutable monetary properties, the critical role of energy expenditure to secure the network, the importance of Proof-of-Work, the Lightning Network, developments in Layer-2, and nation state adoption.

Cyrus brings a unique geopolitical angle to his Bitcoin research. The geopolitical implications of Bitcoin are one of the most under-appreciated and least discussed aspects of Bitcoin. This will become even more critical as we enter a multipolar world order.

While Cyrus’s research makes a clear distinction between Bitcoin and the rest of the Digital Assets ecosystem, his research has also covered Ethereum, regulatory developments, DeFi, stablecoins, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and CBDCs.

Cyrus also oversees Kiril Sokoloff’s many VC investments in crypto.

Prior to 13D, Cyrus founded an education company in 2011, building it into a leading education consultancy and private-tuition provider, focusing on the British education system. His 11 years of experience in the education industry have honed his ability to communicate complex topics in an accessible way.

He began his career in London, working in M&A at Lehman Brothers (later Nomura) before moving to Citigroup where he worked in the European Equity Capital Markets division.

Cyrus graduated from the University of Oxford with a First Class degree in History and Modern Languages, specialising in the Middle East. At Oxford, he was awarded an Academic scholarship. More recently, in 2019, he completed a course in Blockchain in Business from Columbia Business School Executive Education.

STAY AHEAD OF THE MARKETS

with four decades of
proven foresight