Does crypto have a future? Report in pictures from a16z fund
One of the main favorites among venture capitalists in Silicon Valley is Andreessen Horowitz Foundation (a16z). It has been involved in venture capital investments since 2009 and has $28.2 billion under management from several funds. It invested in Airbnb, Facebook, Instagram, Coinbase, Robinhood, Stripe, OpenSea, and Uniswap. Recently, it has prepared a considerable “2022 State of Crypto” report.
The foundation analyzed all known areas in crypto: Web3, DeFi, NFT, GameFi, DAO, and Layer1–2. It made simple infographics. The report will give you an idea of the current results in the industry and the future development of cryptocurrencies. Below are five main conclusions from the report.
#Crypto is in the middle of the 4th “price-innovation” cycle
In cryptocurrency, prices are a leading indicator. Prices are the hook. Numbers generate interest, generating ideas and activity, which drives innovation. Andreessen Horowitz Foundation (a16z) calls this the “price-innovation” cycle, and it has been the engine that has driven the industry since Bitcoin was created in 2009.
Think about how the founders who abandoned technology and the Internet after the dot-com crash in the early 2000s missed out on the best opportunities of the decade: cloud computing, social media, online video streaming, smartphones, etc.
Now is an excellent time to think about what successes await us in web3.
#Web3 is better for creators than web2
Web2 giants charge massive commissions. Web3 platforms offer fairer economic terms.
#Crypto impact a real-world
More than 1.7 billion people don’t have bank accounts. The demand for decentralized finance (DeFi) and digital dollars has increased dramatically over the past few years.
For the underserved and unbanked, cryptocurrency offers a chance for financial accessibility. 1 billion of them have smartphones.
#Ethereum is a leader, but it has competitors
Ethereum dominates the web3 in terms of popularity, but there are other blockchains now. The developers of Solana, Polygon, BNB Chain, Avalanche, and Fantom are aiming for similar success.
#It’s too early for Web3
The exact number of web3 users is hard to determine, they can talk only about scale. Andreessen Horowitz Foundation (a16z) estimates that there are between 7 and 50 million active Ethereum users today.
Compared to the early Internet, we are somewhere around 1995 in terms of the level of development. The Internet reached 1 billion users by 2005 — by the way, it was the time when web2 started to form, amid the foundation of future giants like Facebook and YouTube.
Web3 could reach 1 billion users by 2031. We’re still early, and there’s a lot of work.