Future of Crypto, Blockchain & Web3 w/ Chris Dixon

Welcome to “The Ben & Marc Show”, featuring a16z’s co-founders Ben Horowitz and Marc Andreessen. This week, Marc and Ben are joined by guest Chris Dixon to discuss his recent NY Times bestselling book “Read Write Own”, as well as the future of crypto, blockchain and web3.
Chris Dixon has been a General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz since 2012. He founded and leads a16z crypto, which invests in web3 technologies through four dedicated funds with more than $7 billion under management. Previously, Chris was the cofounder and CEO of two startups, SiteAdvisor (acquired by McAfee in 2006) and Hunch (acquired by eBay in 2011).
In this wide-ranging conversation, the three discuss the evolution of the internet, the current relationship between AI and cryptocurrencies, and how the web3 movement could inspire a new political ideology. They also take questions from X. Enjoy!
#crypto #cyrptocurrency #blockchain #ai #technology #future #web3
Topics Covered:
00:00:01 Teaser
00:00:41 Intro
00:01:14 Read Write Own and the evolution of the internet
00:07:04 Blockchain as a new way to create networks
00:09:52 AI vs. Blockchain
00:16:34 Take rates and economic alternatives through blockchain
00:21:19 Benefits and user leverage via blockchain
00:25:51 "People have forgotten what it's like to really build" - C. Dixon
00:29:36 Current state of crypto
00:41:20 City analogy
00:43:47 Blockchain as an extension of the open source mission
00:46:54 Blockchain regulation / Central Bank digital currency
00:50:27 CBDC as the ultimate "Ring of Power"
00:53:33 Choke Point 1.0
00:58:03 Why crypto needs regulation
01:03:05 X Q: How will crypto benefit the American national interest?
01:06:26 X Q: Do you see adoption of crypto occurring in regions with fewer regulatory capture long before the US?
01:09:53 X Q: What is the current relationship between AI and cryptocurrencies?
01:18:12 X Q: What is your perspective on Bitcoin specifically at this point in its history?
01:23:23 X Q: What is the future of NFT's?
01:28:57 X Q: Do you agree that the Web3 movement can become a legitimate third political wing?
01:34:09 X Q: Is there something you wish you could have included in the book?
01:35:39 Sign off
Listen to Us!
Apple: bit.ly/3SdsfNt
Spotify: spoti.fi/3SclPOr
Resources:
Marc on X: / pmarca
Marc’s Substack: pmarca.substac...
Ben on X: / bhorowitz
Chris Dixon on X: / cdixon
More info on Dixon's book “Read Write Own”: readwriteown.com/
Book referenced on this episode:
“Fully Automated Luxury Communism” by Aaron Bastani bit.ly/3Td7HVw
Stay Updated:
Find us on X: / a16z
Find us on LinkedIn: / a16z
The views expressed here are those of the individual personnel quoted and are not the views of a16z or its affiliates. This content is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. Furthermore, this content is not directed at nor intended for use by any investors or prospective investors and may not under any circumstances be relied upon when making a decision to invest in any a16z funds. PLEASE SEE MORE HERE: a16z.com/discl...

[@chasesommer]

Amazing book! As someone who didn't understand much about blockchain and it's implications, this book has totally reshaped my mind and laid an amazing foundation. Thank you for the chat!

[@josuenunez6215]

Do be careful, Blockchain is very open ended, always keep evolving or you are bound to hold someones bag, or in this case someones worthless nft.

[@lherfel]

Great conversation, thanks Gentlemen. 51:30 ring of power 1:04:00 start

[@Max_Ivanov_Pro]

Really insightful discussion on blockchain technology and its potential applications. Excited to see how it will revolutionize various industries!

[@marcelluswileydatdude]

Finally a smart convo on it….This needs to be played before every crypto convo at a cocktail party. 🙄

[@Kathleendinges]

Bitcoin is on its way to breaking records, getting closer to hitting new high prices, showing that it's gaining more value and could go even higher than we've seen before. This could mean great things for people looking to invest, suggesting now might be a good time to get involved before it jumps even higher. It's an exciting moment that could change the game in general...managed to grow a nest egg of around 127k to a decent 932k....At the heart of this evolution is Linda Wilburn, whose deep understanding of both cryptocurrency and traditional trading has been instrumental. Her holistic approach to investment and commitment to staying abreast of market trends make her an invaluable ally in navigating this new era in cryptocurrency investment.

[@Liz011393]

I appreciate the professionalism and dedication of the team behind Linda’s trade signal service.

[@celinhobjj.]

Investing has proven to be an incredibly beneficial decision. My cryptocurrency profits continue to play a substantial role in growing my overall wealth, reducing my reliance on my salary.

[@RonnieDenburg0]

Linda Wilburn strategy has normalized winning trades for me and it’s a huge milestone for me looking back to how it all started.

[@Luisalvarado1]

The same high-yield potential exists in both bullish and bearish situations; what matters is how information and technique are used. Not neglecting professional advice.

[@DanielleCoscarell]

Linda gave me the autonomy I need to learn at my own pace and ask questions when I need to she so accommodating.

[@ayersteiacapital]

Chris, Ben, Marc- I’ve developed a RWA blockchain startup on a specific segment of commercial real estate, where the operating model creates the network, which becomes a value-add model that in turn makes the entire market segment the TAM. I did not set out to reference it as “blockchain”, just create the network model- but I’ve listened to Chris’ book six times, and the parallels are clear, blatant and unmistakable. I am bringing it to market, if this has interest I would love to chat.

[@Swooni69]

if it aint on ICP, then it aint gonna work. Better you know now rather than later - check out building on ICP for True WEB 3

[@uscalumni]

It was great to meet Chris Dixon this week during his book tour in Los Angeles.

[@anyvoicespeaks]

What was it like to meet an obstinate scammer?

[@mikl2345]

blockchain could work if enough honest people wanted to make it work (like getting the open source community more on board, as Chris mentions). but for that to happen i think the amount of fraud needs to be a lot lower first. also respect to Marc for what he said re. CBDC & ring of power.

[@Onelight_space]

👆

[@eddieteah3102]

Fantastic chat, I'm currently in the middle of developing an architecture for the systems you guys talked about in this video.

[@rishisapiens]

13:57 the argument against central planning it’s not just about perfect outputs , notwithstanding AI, but resilience in the face of failure.

[@ManiDoraisamy-GDE]

Great book and conversation. However, crypto needs to tackle the issue of developer adoption to become a significant technology movement: - It is expensive for developers to launch free "toy" products compared to open source. - Developers would prefer to have centralized control over their users to benefit from network effects. Why pay and relinquish that control?

[@Swooni69]

some developers may prefer central control over their users however all users will prefer community controlled applications. You don't pay extra you just build self sustaining dapps. Dapps that use smart contracts to pay their bills as they scale :)

[@tyepo]

Someone commented Ben comments too much and I just wanna say I loved his comments… “He said” 😂 26:52 - this might be my fav episode, including all the a16z web3 episodes too.

[@indiecrypto]

Hey Chris Have you seen Digital Public infrastructure concept from India? How do you see them as differently from Blockchain Networks? I do see Blockchain as Bottoms-up vs Top down on the DPI but which model is better for cloud +land model vs cloud only model?

[@sigvardskrongorns8547]

Great discussion, really enjoyed it! I'm especially curious to see how the blockchain technology will be adopted in healthcare (particularly in the field of medical data, etc.)

[@Swooni69]

ICP nobleblocks is a start - google it

[@emreye6282]

Incentive wise i would choose a 2rail system. Time spent and success. Maybe in the future when monetary incentives die, we could create a design incentive, 100 Hours in a topic give you 1 token to vote for the next upgrade in that area. It´s hard to think about that topics because it sounds so much like utopia while being surrounded by day to day problems, please keep up the discussion I look really forward for a creation of a system that makes as many people happy as possible. Maybe if we get abundance boredom will be the main incentive for future generations, who knows. I always lived day to day its hard to look over the plate for me at that topic.

[@mishadavinci]

so good!!!🔥🔥🔥

[@anyvoicespeaks]

Bring back the video where Marc Andreesen shows us all how intelligent he really, is while talking to Sam Harris

[@aerashow]

Thanks for the great video ! Blockchain is a tech of communication between billions of humans and an infinite number of AI (which we create in our own image, as Kurzweil correctly wrote) And in Blockchain, unlike the previous similar technology, Paper, not only is there an automatic built-in evaluation of utility (the cost of storing/transmitting information), but there is also an automatic built-in possibility of monetizing it (monetary fitback) And we create web4 social network for this, not like web2.5 Warpcast or Lens, but full web3(4) - withoute backend. Launch soon

[@Swooni69]

you should look at ICP - the tech that allows WEB 3 singularity net - the first truly on chain marketplace for AI taggr - the first fully on chain social network dont be a lazy donut and ignore this message. If you understand it then it can make u $$$ in the future. Lock in bro

[@dasalsakid]

love you dudes! 🙏🏼

[@richcruz17]

Thank you, started reading the book.

[@sergiocayuqueov]

Interesting

[@chasesommer]

So would the same argument of not building on a social platform also hold when it comes to building UGC games on Roblox, Fortnite, and Minecraft? I know a16z Games invests in UGC studios, which seems like the exact same thing, no?

[@benmaxinm]

So interesting to listen to people that were around when people laughed to internet.

[@coffeemaddan]

57:30 lmao. Well played

[@jatingupta4708]

isn't the economic incentives are the reason web2 companies built such good platforms and experiences, enabled people to distribute their content in the first place?? Just curious to know!!!

[@kyanstack]

😂Marcs libgen comment cracked up so hard

[@S.Dadudida]

Habe bemerkt das es ein Fehler war den Staat zu fragen aber die Fehler die wahren sind im Interesse aller. Und jetzt hab ich den Salat 😅

[@jeffdonald1791]

glad Chris disclosed he was on losing side of the blocksize war - i do not think you give or gave BTC its due. the "TAM" is obviously at least the gold marketcap. and there is a huge increase in developer activity on BTC .... the conservatism of BTC is the whole point - it wants to be a sturdy bedrock for future growth. it wants to be easy to run a node. it won't be as sexy or "hot money" but can grow carefully over time (ideally without sacrificing decentralization or security)

[@Swooni69]

for BTC to work it needs the help of ICP. check out ckBTC - dont be lazy and ignore - LOCK IN BRO

[@scott.bradley.16940]

Section headings would help

[@blek1987]

What headphones is Marc using?

[@JtMitchell-u4w]

The libertarian movement, is the movement, for you and meeeeee!

[@cecilechau7932]

Blockchain is decentralizing while ai is centralizing

[@Swooni69]

Correct, except for AI on ICP - lock in bro and check it out...

[@yeabsirasefr6209]

whoever made that thumbnail is funny

[@5ive55ive]

DFinity $ICP!!

[@its_ilan2581]

👌🏻

[@nextalphaa1222]

Ben comnents too much. // great episode apart from that ❤

[@Eggs-n-Jakey]

Awesome talks. I feel like I've been talking to a wall when introducing the idea of block chain for security in terms of identity. (admit I haven't looked into others opinions on it lol) It's kind of an obvious fix for the coming issues we are trying to solve. Just give me my government issued ID of a monkey with gold teeth please.

[@Swooni69]

hey bro, your on to something. you literally describing the biggest undervalued project in the world. ICP is what you are describing. You might find ICP UTOPIA intersting. lock in and learn. You deserve to make some $$$ of your correct opinion. yes the rest of the world rn is a brick FUCKIGN wall

[@S.Dadudida]

😊

[@juliereichwein2871]

Shido and Dubbz and Oracle ai

[@ahsanmohammed1]

Stopped watching moment I realised it’s a book promotion. The entire video will likely be a hook and a tease. Trying to get us just enough interested to go buy the book. Little knowledge or secrets will be shared in the video. Saved myself and hour, after many tens of hours lost.

[@marijasavic2553]

lol the dumbest comment ever. def. not for you

[@pizzadoe7922]

Chris Dixon's investment thesis sounds great on paper and his proposed thesis is very appealing. However, action doesn't match his words. His fund invests heavily in the ETH ecosystem projects heavily run and influenced by "crypto bros" who believe in zero sum principles, gambling at any cost, excessive financialization, vaporwares etc.

[@lucv5573]

money often flows to where money is being made, regardless of the use case. ETH network has massively high transaction costs, and those costs get worse with more adoption.

[@zachmeyer_]

This is a great take. So much of what he’s talking about with regards to a free internet doesn’t need to be built on a blockchain.

[@findyou2283]

Bedrock on Op on Eth = network effects

[@pizzadoe7922]

@yer_ I would say, it somewhat counterproductive to implement them on a blockchain. His argument goes beyond just tech to facilitate what he dreams of. It is also a cultural phenomena that participants need to embrace.99% of the participants who use his VC funded projects care nothing. They just want to make money, money, money, money, money, money..... It can be a scam - fine with them. It can be illegal- fine with them. You get the picture. Time after time, I have seen them throw ideas away Chris is promoting if they become a huge obstacle in making money. I am a crypto person, not a "crypto bro". A lot of stuff, funded by his venture, are creating toxic waste in the crypto space. Sometimes, I just want his fund to shut down some their projects and all these toxic "crypto bros" can go find a real job and stop living off as swindlers preying off the naive folks. Yes, his venture fund is probably one of the largest backer of that monkey jpeg company, pretty much everyone laughs about. I also find it funny how he constantly uses Farcaster as his canonical example. It barely uses the blockchain - I bet non-crypto audience wouldn't even know it.

[@Povcollector]

I'm on a team about to eat a bunch of A16Z co's for breakfast, precisely because of their narrow myopic 'ivy league', 'circle of trust' gatekeeping bullshit. Too busy patting themselves on the back and being gatekeepers. Even the tech week events, such a joke. But all good a16z we'll see who's laughing soon (we already are) 😂

[@Katana_00]

Crypto boom and bust cycle

[@Swooni69]

booms high, bust low, but not as low. Then it booms again. 99% is a scam - buy ICP

[@S.Dadudida]

Überlisten würde ich schaffen😜aber ist nicht drin ich hoffe das alle erwachsen und fear spielen ansonsten kommt es von selbst und ich schlage euch versprochen... Und ansonsten wird alles gut meine freund😊😂

[@andreas.9175]

2nd

[@robneo888]

You keep referring to Blockchains as decentralised. There is only one decentralised Blockchain and that is bitcoin. All the rest are centralised as they are owned by companies who can change the system anytime they like.

[@damon6717]

You raise an interesting point. The block chain is what it is. However, I can see somehow the system could affect extensions. Very interesting.

[@anyvoicespeaks]

These guys are scammers, just listen to them talk about nothing while fleecing tech trash

[@marijasavic2553]

IQ70

[@Drishtiranishorts]

A16z team is doing scam

[@mefisto05s.20]

How so?

[@chesstictacs3107]

Expand your claim please, or else you are an idiot.

[@christopher1369]

How the hell is intelligent discussion regarding technology of our future a scam

[@marijasavic2553]

Typical IQ70 vibes