Deep within Singapore’s vault often dubbed “Asia’s Fort Knox,” a fully intact, 69-million-year-old triceratops skeleton now commands attention among a trove of rare assets.
Measuring more than five metres, the fossil is one of only 24 known specimens worldwide.
Its acquisition by Yoann Turpin, co-founder of crypto market maker Wintermute, alongside co-investors including collectibles entrepreneur Chaw Wei Yang, reportedly cost around US$5 million.
The specimen was shipped from Wyoming to Singapore’s Le Freeport earlier this year.
Singaporean Chaw Wei Yang (left) and Yoann Turpin (centre), co-founder of Wintermute, pose with Turpin's wife, Alice Jeon, next to the 69-million-year-old triceratops skeleton at Freeport in Singapore.
The purchase reflects a broader trend among the crypto elite, moving away from digital assets such as NFTs toward antiques, precious metals, and rare collectibles.
The NFT market, which once saw record-breaking sales like Vignesh Sundaresan’s US$69 million Beeple purchase in 2022, has slowed sharply.
Monthly NFT volume dropped to US$320 million in November 2025, half of October’s total, while early December saw just US$62 million in sales.
Overall, the sector’s market capitalisation fell to US$3.1 billion, down 66% from its January peak of US$9.2 billion.
Ben Charoenwong, associate professor of finance at Insead, commented on this shift:
“For a meaningful segment of the market, crypto functions less as an ideological movement and more like any other speculative bet where the end goal is still conversion into traditional, tangible stores of value.”
Le Freeport, established in 2010 near Changi Airport, offers climate-controlled vaults, fire safety measures, and a three-storey deep basement capable of storing 2,000 tonnes of gold.
Purchased in 2022 for S$40 million by crypto billionaire Jihan Wu, founder of Bitdeer Technologies Group and former co-founder of Bitmain, the facility has become increasingly popular with crypto investors seeking secure storage for tangible and digital assets alike.
Lincoln Ng, CEO of Le Freeport Management, noted a surge in interest from crypto clients:
“There’s a changing pattern of wealth creation and asset diversification.”
The facility accommodates everything from precious metals to portable hard drives holding hundreds of millions in digital tokens.
Wu himself utilises the vault for Matrixport Technologies’ tokenised gold product, linking digital tokens to physical bars stored securely on-site.
The triceratops skeleton is part of a growing trend of extravagant, tangible acquisitions among crypto executives.
Billionaire Justin Sun paid US$6.2 million for a banana duct-taped to a wall in November 2024, while Yat Siu, co-founder of Animoca Brands, acquired a 1708 Stradivarius violin valued at over US$9 million, later using it and an NFT version as collateral for a loan from Galaxy Digital.
In late October 2024, Tether and partners unveiled a lakeside statue of Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, in Switzerland.
Turpin explained the triceratops’ appeal:
“There is something quite special to see it displayed, to be able to touch it and experience it in the real world.”
He also drew a parallel with Bitcoin, noting that “only a finite number of such fossils are left in the world,” highlighting scarcity as a key factor in their appeal.
Coinlive observes that the pivot from digital collectibles to physical, scarce items signals an evolving mindset among crypto investors.
This trend raises questions about the long-term role of NFTs and digital-only assets in wealth accumulation.
The allure of objects that can be seen, touched, and stored securely, paired with crypto’s speculative capital, suggests a blending of traditional investment instincts with new digital wealth.
The fascination with dinosaurs, gold, and ultra-rare collectibles challenges the narrative that digital innovation alone defines crypto’s future, hinting that value may increasingly be measured in tangible, scarce assets rather than virtual ones.
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