David Clark sits down with Ben Forman, Founder and Managing Partner of ParaFi Capital, one of the world’s leading institutional investors in blockchain and digital assets.
Ben’s path into digital assets is anything but conventional. Trained in traditional private equity and credit at firms such as KKR and TPG, he began his career analysing businesses through a deeply fundamental, cash-flow-driven lens. Like many experienced investors, his initial reaction to crypto was sceptical. What changed was a growing conviction that blockchain technology could fundamentally reshape how value moves through the global financial system.
For listeners unfamiliar with blockchain or digital assets, this conversation serves as a clear, grounded introduction. Ben explains blockchain in practical terms, comparing its potential impact on finance to what the internet did for information—reducing friction, cost and reliance on intermediaries. We explore why financial services, despite decades of digitisation, remain inefficient, and how technologies such as stablecoins, tokenisation and on-chain settlement are beginning to change that.
The discussion also demystifies ParaFi’s role in the ecosystem. Ben outlines how ParaFi operates as a multi-strategy investment firm—spanning venture capital, liquid markets and non-directional strategies—and why institutional process, risk management and governance matter just as much in digital assets as they do in traditional markets.
We also examine real-world examples of blockchain in action, including prediction markets, stablecoin-based payments, and the growing involvement of major global institutions. Importantly, Ben shares lessons from both successful investments and ideas that were simply too early—offering rare insight into how emerging asset classes evolve over time.
This episode provides a clear framework for understanding one of the most important structural shifts underway in global finance and why digital assets are increasingly part of institutional portfolios, what risks remain, and how to think about the opportunity with discipline rather than speculation.
All content for Inside the Rope with David Clark is the property of David Clark and is served directly from their servers
with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.
David Clark sits down with Ben Forman, Founder and Managing Partner of ParaFi Capital, one of the world’s leading institutional investors in blockchain and digital assets.
Ben’s path into digital assets is anything but conventional. Trained in traditional private equity and credit at firms such as KKR and TPG, he began his career analysing businesses through a deeply fundamental, cash-flow-driven lens. Like many experienced investors, his initial reaction to crypto was sceptical. What changed was a growing conviction that blockchain technology could fundamentally reshape how value moves through the global financial system.
For listeners unfamiliar with blockchain or digital assets, this conversation serves as a clear, grounded introduction. Ben explains blockchain in practical terms, comparing its potential impact on finance to what the internet did for information—reducing friction, cost and reliance on intermediaries. We explore why financial services, despite decades of digitisation, remain inefficient, and how technologies such as stablecoins, tokenisation and on-chain settlement are beginning to change that.
The discussion also demystifies ParaFi’s role in the ecosystem. Ben outlines how ParaFi operates as a multi-strategy investment firm—spanning venture capital, liquid markets and non-directional strategies—and why institutional process, risk management and governance matter just as much in digital assets as they do in traditional markets.
We also examine real-world examples of blockchain in action, including prediction markets, stablecoin-based payments, and the growing involvement of major global institutions. Importantly, Ben shares lessons from both successful investments and ideas that were simply too early—offering rare insight into how emerging asset classes evolve over time.
This episode provides a clear framework for understanding one of the most important structural shifts underway in global finance and why digital assets are increasingly part of institutional portfolios, what risks remain, and how to think about the opportunity with discipline rather than speculation.
Ep 196: David Gribble - His Road to the Top at Alceon: Inside One of Australia’s Top Private Capital Firms
Inside the Rope with David Clark
56 minutes 14 seconds
8 months ago
Ep 196: David Gribble - His Road to the Top at Alceon: Inside One of Australia’s Top Private Capital Firms
In this episode of Inside the Rope, David Clark speaks with David Gribble, the newly appointed CEO of Alceon, one of Australia's leading multi-strategy private capital firms. Against a backdrop of heightened market volatility and growing media scrutiny of private credit, David Gribble shares his perspective on the evolving role of private markets and how Alceon is positioning itself through this cycle.
The conversation explores Gribble’s unique journey from engineering and investment banking to leading Alceon, and why the firm’s deep bench of local expertise, asset-backed focus, and collaborative investment approach offers clients confidence during periods of uncertainty. We also dive into how Alceon balances opportunity and risk across real estate credit, private equity, and structured credit—and why disclosure and proactive transparency are central to maintaining investor trust in the private markets space.
As regulation looms and headlines focus on risks, this episode offers measured insight into the difference that experience, structure, and true alignment can make.
Inside the Rope with David Clark
David Clark sits down with Ben Forman, Founder and Managing Partner of ParaFi Capital, one of the world’s leading institutional investors in blockchain and digital assets.
Ben’s path into digital assets is anything but conventional. Trained in traditional private equity and credit at firms such as KKR and TPG, he began his career analysing businesses through a deeply fundamental, cash-flow-driven lens. Like many experienced investors, his initial reaction to crypto was sceptical. What changed was a growing conviction that blockchain technology could fundamentally reshape how value moves through the global financial system.
For listeners unfamiliar with blockchain or digital assets, this conversation serves as a clear, grounded introduction. Ben explains blockchain in practical terms, comparing its potential impact on finance to what the internet did for information—reducing friction, cost and reliance on intermediaries. We explore why financial services, despite decades of digitisation, remain inefficient, and how technologies such as stablecoins, tokenisation and on-chain settlement are beginning to change that.
The discussion also demystifies ParaFi’s role in the ecosystem. Ben outlines how ParaFi operates as a multi-strategy investment firm—spanning venture capital, liquid markets and non-directional strategies—and why institutional process, risk management and governance matter just as much in digital assets as they do in traditional markets.
We also examine real-world examples of blockchain in action, including prediction markets, stablecoin-based payments, and the growing involvement of major global institutions. Importantly, Ben shares lessons from both successful investments and ideas that were simply too early—offering rare insight into how emerging asset classes evolve over time.
This episode provides a clear framework for understanding one of the most important structural shifts underway in global finance and why digital assets are increasingly part of institutional portfolios, what risks remain, and how to think about the opportunity with discipline rather than speculation.
