Jack Dorsey And Elon Musk Take Stabs At Web3 Being Led By Venture Capitalists
Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Square CEO Jack Dorsey took stabs at Web3 and the powerful venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz that has been active to promote it.
It all got started from rapper Cardi B’s tweet asking if crypto might replace the dollar. Dorsey replied Bitcoin will. Bitcoin that is, not ‘crypto.’
Few hours later, Dorsey took aim at Web3, which has become a buzzword that its evangelists use to describe a new era of the Internet that will replace powerful tech companies with a decentralized system of blockchains. VC firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and its friends have been leading many of the web3 efforts.
Dorsey tweeted that the vision for web3 will eventually become centralized because the VCs will have majority control:
You don’t own “web3.”
The VCs and their LPs do. It will never escape their incentives. It’s ultimately a centralized entity with a different label.
Silicon Valley figures were next to join the conversation, including a16z figures who came to defend their Web3 project.
Among the defenders Chris Dixon, a partner at the VC firm, who is one of the most prominent investors in crypto and who has published a series of recent Twitter threads exalting Web3.
Dixon attempted the popular Gandhi “first they ignore you” quote, leading Dorsey to call the VC’s attitude as fake and sanctimonious.
You’re a fund determined to be a media empire that can’t be ignored…not Gandhi.
Dorsey faced criticism that is blinded by a Bitcoin-only mentality. Others called him a hypocrite for having accepted plenty of venture capital money to start his own companies.
We have bigger issues if a tweet stifles hopes and dreams. Currently it’s not wrong. Critique can help fix, or divert energy to something more important.
So what’s going on? Is Web3 not the next best thing since sliced bread? Dorsey is one of the few people in the crypto space with the track record and power to challenge Andreessen Horowitz’s plans for the next phase of crypto.
At the same time, though, Dorsey’s shot across Web3’s bow may also be rooted in self-interest: Both companies he founded, Square and Twitter, exemplify the Web2 era and may face an existential threat of a more decentralized technology stack.
