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Major fund manager issues chilling World War 3 warning<\/a> originally appeared on TheStreet<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n Global traders might be sleep-walking into the next major conflict, according to Maelstrom managing partner and co-founder Akshat Vaidya.<\/p>\n In an interview with TheStreet Roundtable<\/a>, Vaidya argued that equity and crypto markets are adapting so gradually to near-constant geopolitical shocks that they no longer price in the true risk of war.<\/p>\n Maelstrom is a venture fund managed by the family office of Arthur Hayes<\/a> \u2014 co-founder of BitMEX <\/a>\u2014 building a long-term portfolio of venture-stage infrastructure companies powering decentralization.<\/p>\n Join the discussion with CryptoWendyO on Roundtable here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIf you look at World War I, World War II, nobody knew they were in them until two, three, four years in,\u201d Vaidya said. \u201cWe don\u2019t think we\u2019re in World War III yet. In two years, we might look back and realize we\u2019ve been in World War III since Russia<\/a>, Ukraine<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n He likened markets to crustaceans dropped into a slow-heating pot. \u201cThey only realize they\u2019re boiling once their flesh starts disintegrating,\u201d he said, noting that today\u2019s investors brushed off last week\u2019s missile strikes on Iran despite their once-unthinkable scale. \u201cThe Twitter-in-chief said there\u2019s a ceasefire, so whatever. Nobody cares anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n Join the discussion with Scott Melker on Roundtable here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Vaidya called crypto \u201ca new nascent asset class\u201d that keeps receiving \u201csomething very pro-crypto out of DC,\u201d from draft stablecoin <\/a>rules to regulator guidance. That policy tailwind, he believes, makes digital assets more resilient than stocks over the next few years.<\/p>\n Still, he expects both arenas to remain \u201cvery volatile\u201d and \u201cchoppy,\u201d a pattern that favors exchanges and arbitrage funds hunting for spreads.<\/p>\n Yet one flashpoint still scares him. \u201cI\u2019m not too worried about geopolitics, set aside China <\/a>\u2013 Taiwan<\/a>,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s where it\u2019s going to really feel like World War III, if it happens.\u201d<\/p>\n For now, Vaidya sees investors growing accustomed to crises that once triggered global sell-offs. But he warns the next escalation could finally prove too hot for complacent markets to ignore.<\/p>\n Major fund manager issues chilling World War 3 warning<\/a> first appeared on TheStreet on Jun 27, 2025<\/p>\n This story was originally reported by TheStreet<\/a> on Jun 27, 2025, where it first appeared.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n