web3 with a16z crypto

a16z crypto, Sonal Chokshi, Chris Dixon

"web3 with a16z" is a show about the next generation of the internet, and about how builders and users -- whether artists, coders, creators, developers, companies, organizations, or communities -- now have the ability to not just "read" (web1) + "write" (web2) but "own" (web3) pieces of the internet, unlocking a new wave of creativity and entrepreneurship. Brought to you by a16z crypto, this show is the definitive resource for understanding and going deeper on all things crypto and web3. From discussing the latest and leading trends to sharing research, data readouts, and insights from top scientists and makers in the space, this is a variety show with a variety of formats and topics listeners can pick and choose from. It is hosted by the longtime showrunner of (and original team behind) the popular a16z Podcast. Learn more at a16zcrypto.com.

  • 40 minutes 5 seconds
    Trends for 2025 (part 2): AI x Crypto - From Agents in Games & DePIN to Proof of Personhood and More

    with @carrawu @eddylazzarin @0xkarmacoma and @smc90 @rhhackett

    Welcome to our special end-of-year episodes -- which also look ahead to 2025 --  covering our annual Big Ideas lists, where various a16z crypto team members share what they are personally excited about. (You can see the firmwide list, also including all the trends of the crypto team,  here.)

    This episode is part 2 of 2 -- but you don't have to listen to them in any particular order -- covering the intersection of crypto & AI:

    • agents that have their own crypto wallets -- and also AI agents in games; DePin/ decentralized physical infrastructure, like energy grids; and more;
    • proof of personhood, and why having a unique ID matters in a world of deepfakes, bots, scams and more is needed with proliferating AI;
    • decentralized, truly autonomous, chatbots (using TEEs or trusted execution environment).

     Covering each of these -- and coming from the investing, engineering, and other teams -- are:  Carra Wu, Eddy Lazzarin, and Karma (aka Daniel Reynaud); in conversation with hosts Sonal Chokshi and Robert Hackett, who also share some commentary at the top.

    These are just a few of the 14 trends we shared; you can check out the full list at a16zcrypto.com/bigideas. 

    Also be sure to check out part 1, which covers the trends of stablecoins, app stores, infrastructure, and user experience. 

    As a reminder, none of the content is investment, business, legal, or tax advice; please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information -- including a link to a list of our investments.

    21 December 2024, 5:24 am
  • 33 minutes 52 seconds
    Trends for 2025 (part 1): Stablecoins, App Stores, UX, and More

    with @sambroner @meigga @darenmatsuoka @jneu_net @chrislyons and @rhhackett @smc90

    Welcome to our special end-of-year episodes -- which also look ahead to 2025 --  covering our annual Big Ideas lists, where various a16z crypto team members share what they are personally excited about. (You can see the firmwide list, also including all the trends of the crypto team,  here.)

    This episode is part 1 of 2 -- but you don't have to listen to them in any particular order -- covering the trends and themes of:

    • stablecoins, payments, and where the early adopters will come from;
    • app store distribution, curation, and discovery;
    • where the next crypto users will come from, turning passive holders into active users;
    • how builders improve, and better choose, infrastructure; and
    • simplifying user experience.

     Covering each of these -- and coming from the investing, go-to-market, data science, research, and media teams are:  Sam Broner, Maggie Hsu, Daren Matsuoka, Joachim Neu, and Chris Lyons; in conversation with hosts Sonal Chokshi and Robert Hackett. (Stay tuned until the end for some of our meta-commentary.) 

    These are just 5 of the 14 trends we shared; you can check out the full list at a16zcrypto.com/bigideas.

    Also be sure to check out part 2, which covers all the trends at the intersection of crypto and AI. 

    As a reminder, none of the content is investment, business, legal, or tax advice; please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information -- including a link to a list of our investments.

    20 December 2024, 6:33 pm
  • 1 hour 48 minutes
    Prediction Markets and Beyond

    with @atabarrok @skominers @smc90

    We've heard a lot about the premise and the promise of prediction markets for a long time, but they finally hit the main stage with the most recent election. So what worked (and didn't) this time? Are they better than pollsters, journalists, domain experts, superforecasters?

    So in this conversation, we tease apart the hype from the reality of prediction markets, from the recent election to market foundations... going more deeply into the how, why, and where these markets work. We also discuss the design challenges and opportunities, including implications for builders throughout. And we also cover other information aggregation mechanisms -- from peer prediction to others -- given that prediction markets are part of a broader category of information-elicitation and information-aggregation mechanisms.

    Where do (and don't) blockchain and crypto technologies come in -- and what specific features (decentralization, transparency, real-time, open source, etc.) matter most, and in what contexts? Finally, we discuss applications for prediction and decision markets -- things we could do right away to in the near-to distant future -- touching on everything from corporate decisions and scientific replication to trends like AI, DeSci, futarchy/ governance, and more?

    Our special expert guests are Alex Tabarrok, professor of economics at George Mason University and Chair in Economics at the Mercatus Center; and Scott Duke Kominers, research partner at a16z crypto, and professor at Harvard Business School  -- both in conversation with Sonal Chokshi.

    RESOURCES
    (from links to research mentioned to more on the topics discussed)

    22 November 2024, 7:56 am
  • 57 minutes 24 seconds
    Government... By Lottery?

    with @baileyflan @ahall_research @rhhackett

    Today we’re dusting off an ancient practice that has become trendy once again: the old-but-new idea of “sortition,” or selecting representatives by lottery.

    Sortition was used in ancient Athenian democracy to elect public officials. It’s also been lately revived by tech companies like Meta and AI startups like OpenAI and Anthropic to tackle some of their thorniest policymaking challenges.

    Our guests today are experts on sortition, including Bailey Flanigan, a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard who is joining MIT as an assistant professor next year, and who has helped develop selection algorithms for sortition that are in use today. Also joining is Andrew Hall, Stanford University poli sci professor, advisor to Meta, and consultant to a16z crypto research.

    In this episode, we discuss why not to rely exclusively on expert authority, how the process of deliberation changes people’s minds, and how sortition can apply everywhere from the governance of countries to the governance of crypto projects, and more.

    Related resources:

    As a reminder, none of the content should be taken as investment, business, legal, or tax advice. Please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

    2 November 2024, 1:49 pm
  • 38 minutes 2 seconds
    AI Bots & Memecoins

    with @pmarca @bhorowitz

    Today we’re running a special episode featuring a16z cofounders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz talking about AI bots and crypto. They discuss what happens when you mix postmodern theories and internet memes in an LLM. They also get into the sudden rise of a strange memecoin, the state of crypto regulation in the U.S., and more.

    This episode is a crossover from the Ben & Marc Show, which you can follow on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.

    See the original episode:

    As always, none of the content should be taken as tax, business, legal or investment advice. See a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

    26 October 2024, 5:59 pm
  • 53 minutes 24 seconds
    State of Crypto 2024: Builder Energy, U.S. Election, Stablecoins, AI, More

    with @DarenMatsuoka @eddylazzarin @rhhackett

    Welcome to web3 with a16z. Today we're taking you behind the scenes of our newly released, annual State of Crypto Report — a16z crypto's analysis of the latest data and trends that have defined the industry in 2024.

    This year's report features some brand new insights, from estimating the number of real crypto users globally, to understanding how much interest in crypto swing states may have ahead of the U.S. election. We also dig into infrastructure improvements to blockchains and key applications — including stablecoins, AI, and so-called DePIN. Be sure to visit a16zcrypto.com for all this and more including a new “Builder Energy” dashboard, which we’ll discuss on the show.

    Joining me to talk about the findings are lead data scientist and report author Daren Matsuoka and CTO Eddy Lazzarin. The first voice you'll hear after mine is Daren's, then Eddy's.

    a16z crypto resources:

    As always, none of the content should be taken as tax, business, legal or investment advice. See a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

    18 October 2024, 4:27 pm
  • 41 minutes 43 seconds
    Bridges: Out of the Mess, Into the Meshnet (with LayerZero)

    Welcome to web3 with a16z. Today we explore the messy secrets of blockchain bridges. These cross-chain connectors are the go-betweens in today's multichain world, but their short history has been a checkered one, with prominent projects succumbing to major hacks and other hijinks.

    So we've brought on one of the builders who knows this world best to help disentangle the messiness. That’s Bryan Pellegrino, cofounder and CEO of LayerZero Labs, maker of a popular blockchain interoperability protocol. In this episode, Bryan delivers a crash course on the evolution of bridges, including the ups and downs of various approaches. You'll also learn about the technology's inner workings, its applications, and how it fits in with ongoing efforts to scale blockchains.

    Joining is a16z crypto general partner Ali Yahya, who is also an expert in this area; plus me, your cohost, Robert Hackett. The first voice you'll hear after mine is Bryan's, then Ali's. 

    As always, none of the content should be taken as tax, business, legal or investment advice. See a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

    28 September 2024, 7:05 pm
  • 35 minutes 59 seconds
    Games as Reality (with EVE Online)

    with @HilmarVeigar @eddylazzarin

    Our featured guest today is Hilmar Pétursson, the CEO of CCP Games, maker of EVE Online, a massive multiplayer online role playing game. In this episode, Pétursson shares his unique world view and game-making philosophy, as well as a deep dive into the technology and economic design of his sci-fi simulation. He also touches on how niche cults can break into mainstream culture, how slow databases can make for fun gameplay, and what to expect from EVE Frontier, a new blockchain-based overhaul of the space survival game that is now inviting people to apply as playtesters.

    The other voice you'll hear is that of Eddy Lazzarin, a16z crypto’s Chief Technology Officer and an avid gamer himself. This conversation originally took place earlier this year at a16z crypto's CSX startup accelerator program in London, videos of which are posted on the a16z crypto YouTube channel. Be sure to subscribe for more thought-provoking conversations and other insightful content.

    Related links:

    As a reminder, none of the content should be taken as investment, business, legal, or tax advice. Please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

    13 September 2024, 4:39 pm
  • 1 hour 16 minutes
    How Blockchain Tech Advances Benefit Other Industries

    with Dan Boneh @tim_roughgarden @smc90

    In this special 50th episode of the web3 with a16z podcast, we discuss how work in the blockchains/ crypto space has led to advances in several important technologies — which can be (and are being) used by many other industries beyond crypto.

    Tim Roughgarden (a16z crypto Head of Research and professor at Columbia University) and Dan Boneh (a16z crypto Senior Research Advisor and professor at Stanford University) discuss these advances in conversation with Sonal Chokshi. 

    Topics covered include automated market makers; credible auctions, collusion, and mechanism design not possible before; as well as zero knowledge; trusted execution environments (TEEs) and fully homomorphic encryption (FHE); and much more. We also discuss the recurring theme of how web3 provides a laboratory not only for experiments in governance, but for macroeconomics and more. The two also offer many useful explanations for anyone new to these technologies or seeking to understand why they matter in the big picture. 

    It’s an innovation story we’ve seen over and over again, from the space program to other massive invention efforts: Technologies developed for one purpose often lead to benefits for humanity overall.

    Pieces mentioned in this episode and other resources:

    As a reminder, none of the following is investment, business, legal, or tax advice; please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information including a link to a list of our investments. 

     

    9 September 2024, 6:00 am
  • 1 hour 2 minutes
    Governance Attack!?

    with @ahall_research @eddylazzarin @0xShuel  @smc90

    In this episode, we cover both recent events + evergreen governance questions in political systems: Specifically, we breakdown the recent Compound “governance attack”... as well as the broader topic of DAO governance and voting in general. We also discuss how to avoid, prevent, and respond to such governance attacks -- highlighting key differences between on-chain/ token-based/ digital voting systems vs. physical-world political systems around the world. 

    What happens when you have activity from actors that the majority doesn’t necessarily agree with? How do you distinguish between good-faith and bad-faith activity, especially on-chain? And other such tricky questions?? Our experts answering these questions (in conversation with Sonal Chokshi) include: 

    - a16z crypto CTO Eddy Lazzarin;
    - head of network operations Ross Shuel;
    - and a16z crypto research collaborator, and Stanford professor of political science, Andrew Hall.

    The episode begins by quickly recapping the exact sequence of a recent Compound governance “attack” event a few weeks ago -- including discussing whether “governance attack” is the right label for it or not; how it’s different from other attacks; and the broader trend of online vs offline governance attacks in general -- before then going into specific solutions. The team also shares some behind-scenes tick tock on what happened, how people figure out motives behind actions on-chain (especially given the "indistinguishability problem"), and much more. 

    Pieces mentioned in this episode and other resources:

    15 August 2024, 1:01 am
  • 57 minutes 20 seconds
    Token Do's and Don'ts

    with @eddylazzarin @milesjennings @rhhackett

    Today’s episode covers all things tokens — that includes what tokens have to do with decentralized protocols, understanding the different types of tokens, and, of course, the Do's and Don'ts of designing and launching a token.

    Our guests are a16z crypto chief technology officer Eddy Lazzarin, as well as a16z crypto general counsel and head of decentralization Miles Jennings, the two of whom have advised many scores of projects on protocol design and tokencraft. They discuss what sets web3 apart from earlier technology eras; avoiding common pitfalls in the search for product market fit; how to reason about various designs and strategies, as well as their risk and reward tradeoffs; and more. 

    Related resources:

    The token launch playbook (part 1)

    The token launch playbook (part 2)

    As a reminder: None of the content should be taken as investment, legal, business, or tax advice. Please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments. 

    8 August 2024, 12:45 pm
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