We’ve just released our latest State of Crypto report.
It shares insights on key trends — like stablecoins, L2s, and AI — plus, crypto’s rise as a hot policy issue, new data on builders and users, and much more.
6) Crypto could solve some of AI’s most pressing challenges
Blockchain networks could help to:
→ Verify the authenticity of media including deepfakes
→ Democratize access to compute for developers
→ Create transparent, user-owned services
→ Compensate users who contribute data to AI models
This year we’re releasing a new tool: our Builder Energy dashboard.
It shares proprietary, aggregated data — for the first time — based on our unique view of the crypto landscape, including the blockchains, technologies, and categories that are attracting builders.
None of the above should be taken as investment advice or an advertisement for investment services. The content speaks only as of the date indicated and is for informational purposes only; all figures are as of September 30, 2024, unless otherwise noted. Please see a16z.com/disclosures/ for more information.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
Stablecoins could be a ‘WhatsApp moment’ for money, making international transactions nearly free and instant.
Before apps like WhatsApp, sending a text across borders meant paying 30 cents per message.
Payments are now where messaging was in 2008: expensive, full of intermediaries, and limited by borders. Stablecoins could dramatically improve this situation.
There are two types of stablecoins, and one common miscategorization.
Stablecoins can be:
✅Fiat backed: The value of a token is linked to an underlying currency
✅Asset-backed: The product of onchain loans, also known as CDPs.
Stablecoins are not:
❌Strategy-backed synthetic dollars (SBSDs): $1-denominated tokens that represent a combination of collateral and an investment strategy. SBDSs expose consumers to centralized exchange risks and and asset price volatility. They aren’t considered to be a reliable store of value or medium of exchange.
Making the U.S. the crypto capital: What it would take
The U.S. seems to be turning its combative stance on blockchains and crypto toward a more supportive one that offers guidance and clarity on the rules for builders to follow. While it’s still early, a number of encouraging steps have already been taken across government toward that end. New leadership, new rules, new task forces — all of these help give the crypto industry something that it has sorely lacked: a meaningful path forward.
Whereas recent years were marked by lawsuits against startups, turf wars between regulatory agencies, angry letters from lawmakers, incidents of debanking, and regulation-by-enforcement, the past few weeks signal a much more optimistic, pro-tech approach. From the White House, we’ve seen the appointment of an AI & Crypto Czar and an executive order declaring support for blockchain development. The Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) has formed a new crypto task force and repealed Staff Accounting Bulletin 121, a damaging rule that had held back crypto development. And in both houses of Congress, prominent legislators have indicated a willingness to enshrine clear rules of the road for the industry in legislation.
To foster the conversation between government officials and blockchain experts, we’ve gathered 11 views from industry experts on issues ranging from taxes and the freedom to stake, to broader issues like encouraging decentralization and reforming the U.S. regulatory regime. These views offer policymakers important considerations for how to approach crypto regulation, ensuring that the U.S. leads this critical shift toward the next generation of the internet.