a16z crypto

Today, we’re excited to share the 2023 State of Crypto Report and introduce the State of Crypto Index. Our 2023 report aims to address the imbalance between the noise of fleeting price movements and the data that tracks the signals that matter, and the durable progress of web3 technology. Overall, the report reflects a healthier industry than market prices may indicate, and a steady cycle of development, product launches, and innovation. The State of Crypto Index is an interactive tool to track the health of the crypto industry from a technological, rather than financial, perspective. To offer a more accurate and nuanced measure of the state of crypto, the index represents the weighted average monthly growth of 14 industry metrics – from the number of verified smart contracts to the number of transacting wallets and more. In other words, the index displays, in a single chart, the rate of innovation and adoption of web3. The tool is also interactive, so you can tweak the parameters to form your own views. Report here: https://lnkd.in/gx5MCDrN One of the key insights that you’ll find from the report is that blockchains have more active users, and more ways to engage than ever before. We’re seeing more monthly active addresses – unique addresses sending on-chain transactions each month – than ever.  Last month we saw 15 million addresses, more than twice as many as two years ago when prices were still elevated. One explanation: there are increasingly more ways to engage with blockchains and web3 applications. From DeFi to web3 games – more than 700 of which launched last year – a variety of new applications create addresses for their users to interact with, without having to download or connect a wallet. Check out a few more of the takeaways from the report here: https://lnkd.in/gx5MCDrN Lastly, we encourage you to explore the State of Crypto index yourself. We made the tool interactive, allowing you to tweak the parameters and create different views of the industry. We plan to update the data on an ongoing basis so that it is as accurate as possible over time. If you uncover an interesting insight, please share your thoughts with us! State of Crypto Index: https://lnkd.in/gcuw_sh3

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The five pillars of product-market fit w/ Jason Rosenthal https://lnkd.in/g-n99YKw

Here are some books we're reading and recommending this summer. https://lnkd.in/gvYrmxxG

Finding product market fit is a trial every founder must face. Serial entrepreneur Ben Rubin, who built the breakout social apps Meerkat, then Houseparty (acquired by Epic Games in 2019), and who is now building a decentralized messaging protocol as CEO and cofounder of Here Not There Labs, shares his journey — and search for meaning — with Jason Rosenthal, head of a16z crypto's CSX startup accelerator program. Tune in here: https://lnkd.in/gwRjdGpk

Great post about NFT royalties by Michael Blau.

Onchain royalties on secondary sales have always been an important value proposition of NFTs, but they’ve been misunderstood for a while now: NFT royalties were never enforced onchain, even though everyone expected them to be. In a way, NFT royalties reached product-market fit before there ever was a “product.” Creators now have a few different solutions to choose from, but each comes with tradeoffs that can be difficult to navigate. So, how do NFT royalties work, and why have they been so challenging to implement? Here are some thoughts from Scott Kominers, Daren Matsuoka, and myself on current designs, along with a few new ideas. Full post 👉  https://lnkd.in/er7AyREU

In this talk, Maggie Hsu (head of go-to-market), and Pyrs Carvolth (go-to-market partner), explore various GTM models & motions, walk through a comprehensive checklist, & address audience questions on the topic. Enjoy! 🍿 https://lnkd.in/gMb85s8u

Join Shane Mac, cofounder of XMTP Labs, as he shares his journey in building the DM layer of the internet. Shane is also the cofounder of Squared Away, an initiative to employ military spouses as executive assistants. Previously, Shane was the CEO & cofounder of Assist, where he spent nine years developing a business messaging & AI platform with partners like Amazon, Google, Facebook, Apple, and Twitter. In this talk, moderated by a16z crypto go-to-market partner, Pyrs Carvolth, Shane discusses his experiences as a founder of multiple companies, the challenges he faced, and the lessons he’s learned along the way. Tune in for an insightful and personal conversation. https://lnkd.in/giiEnW5A

That’s a wrap for CSX London! 🇬🇧 Learn directly from the cohort about their experience below. And stay tuned for more info about our next cohort. ⤵ “CSX is probably the only time you’ll have in your company’s lifetime to focus so intensely on every single component of your business, to pull it apart, analyze it, and then accelerate its growth in a confined period of time.” - Aleksija Vujicic, Tata Bazaar “It’s amazing being exposed to so many people who’ve thought deeply about every aspect of running a business, especially a crypto business, where things can be quite different.” - Luke Gibson, Playmint “The energy itself cannot be replicated. You know that somebody is going to take off and they’re building an iconic, huge brand or a huge platform. And it could be us, it could be yourself.” - Caspar Barnes, AminoChain  “The structure of the program, getting the introduction to different core elements of how to build the right kind of business, has been transformational to how we think about the early stages of growing.” - Lisa Grimm, Roux “a16z is a big name, big company, and I’m really, really surprised at how approachable people are. You can talk to anyone at any time. People are very honest at giving feedback, very direct. I really appreciate that.” - Lukas Scheucher, Compass Labs “The way that I would frame CSX is it’s an opportunity to reach into an à-la-carte pool of resources that a16z crypto provides, that makes the most material impact for your company at any point in time.” - Soren Wren, TITLES You can also check out our CSX talks here (more coming soon): https://lnkd.in/gxHnWtsF