with @DarenMatsuoka @rhhackettToday we've got a midyear market update and news episode for you. At the end of last year, our guest — and resident data weatherman — Daren Matsuoka put out a post on "5 metrics to watch in 2025." Most of the metrics that Daren picked measure how crypto's adoption: from mobile wallet usage and onchain transaction fees to volume across stablecoins, decentralized exchanges (or DEXs), and exchange traded-products. Now that we're about midway through 2025, it's a great time for an update. Timestamps:(0:00) Introduction(2:27) Chart 1: Monthly Mobile Wallet Users(6:16) Chart 2: Adjusted Stablecoin Transaction Volume(10:01) Chart 3: ETF Net Flows for Bitcoin and Ethereum(13:30) Chart 4: Decentralized vs Centralized Exchange Volume(15:50) Chart 5: Total Transaction Fees(21:46) Emerging Metrics and Industry Insights(25:07) Recent Industry News and Developments(27:13) ConclusionRelevant news:Circle, issuer of the USDC stablecoin, went public on the New York Stock Exchange exchange on June 5 and there was extremely strong demand for the company's offering.Stripe announced on June 11 that it would be acquiring a crypto company, Privy, which helps companies create crypto wallets — adding to Stripe's earlier acquisition of Bridge, which helps companies work with stablecoins.Shopify partnered with Stripe and Coinbase to enable merchants to accept USDC payments.Coinbase has a new credit card in partnership with American Express, which gives you Bitcoin rewards.The French bank Société Générale announced plans for a dollar-backed stablecoin that will run on Ethereum and Solana with BNY Mellon acting as custodian for the reserves.JPMorgan Chase plans to launch a U.S. dollar “deposit token” called JPMD on Coinbase's Base network.If you enjoyed this episode, stay tuned for our annual big State of Crypto Report, which we'll drop in the fall. If you want more from Daren, you can follow him @DarenMatsuoka on X or visit a16zcrypto.com to read his posts, including the one we talked about today.***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.
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28:47
Wait — The Bank Froze Your Life Savings?
with @MinarikLaw @EMinSF @rhhackettImagine waking up one day to find your bank account frozen. No warning. No explanation. No recourse.This is not a thought experiment. It’s a real situation. And it’s happened not just to crypto companies and their founders, but to ordinary people who are just trying to live their lives. That includes our guest today, who learned firsthand what it means to be “debanked.”In this episode, we talk about the unseen algorithms that monitor people’s accounts, the ramifications of the Bank Secrecy Act, and how crypto and decentralized finance may offer a much-needed check — and safety net — against the opaque systems of traditional finance.Joining us are:Uniswap Labs’s Chief Legal Officer Katherine Minarik, who shares her personal story of being debanked and what it taught her.a16z crypto Finance and Operations Partner Em Westerhold, who helps founders navigate these issues, and who has tracked dozens of instances of debanking across our own portfolio.A big thank you to Katherine for trusting us to share her story, which you can read a first-hand account of in an op-ed she contributed to a16zcrypto.com earlier this year. Find that and more below.Timestamps:(0:00) Introduction(2:03) The Problem of Debanking(5:58) Debanking: A Personal Story(7:33) Understanding the Bank Secrecy Act(11:53) The Information Vacuum(16:55) The Impact on Crypto Companies(20:07) Addressing Skeptics(22:07) Banks: Good vs. Bad(27:35) The Scariest Moment(36:17) "Operation Chokepoint 2.0"(38:08) History of the Bank Secrecy Act(44:04) Security Theater(45:31) What Would You Change?(48:45) The Impact of Financial Consolidation(49:30) Crypto as Banking Solution(53:02) Is Debanking Still Happening?(58:35) Unresolved Mysteries(1:01:47) One More Debanking Story(1:08:07) Conspiracy or Coincidence?(1:09:39) It Shouldn't Be This Hard(1:11:18) Out From Under the SEC's Cloud(1:14:23) The Urgent Need for Legislation(1:17:26) Possible Tech Futures(1:19:33) Advice for Founders(1:22:04) Final ThoughtsResources:Anyone can get debanked. DeFi is a critical safety net by Katherine Minarik (a16z crypto, February 2025)This op-ed is part of a bigger package of crypto policy views found here: “U.S. as the crypto capital: What it would take”Debanking: What you need to know (a16z crypto, December 2024)End the era of mass financial surveillance by Grant Rabenn (a16z crypto, February 2025)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.
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1:25:17
Inside the Solana Story: Near-Death Brushes and a Need for Speed (with Solana)
with @aeyakovenko @alive_ethToday’s episode features Solana cofounder Anatoly Yakovenko in conversation with a16z General Partner Ali Yahya, recorded live at our CSX Crypto Startup Accelerator program earlier this year.Anatoly shares the origin story of Solana — from a late-night eureka moment to thousands of investor meetings and several near-death startup experiences. He talks about what it took to get the network off the ground, how his engineering background at Qualcomm shaped its design, and why a need for speed gave Solana its edge.They also get into developer culture, engineering trade-offs, and what differentiates Solana’s approach to building — including its willingness to ship, iterate, and rethink everything: including, most recently, its consensus algorithm.Timestamps:(0:00) Introduction(2:54) Early Career and Move to SF(3:57) Discovering Crypto and Solana's Beginnings(8:28) Challenges and Fundraising(12:12) Building Solana and Overcoming Obstacles(13:41) Solana's Vision and Market Strategy(17:23) Navigating Crises and Team Resilience(22:37) Solana's Unique Approach and Future Plans(24:57) Solana's Unique Approach to Software Development(26:35) Redesigning Solana: Lessons Learned(30:22) The Importance of Hackathons and Community(32:32) Technical Choices and Implications(34:16) Prioritizing User Experience Over Developer Comfort(36:40) Competitive Landscape of Layer 1 Chains(38:49) Building a Loyal Developer Community(42:36) Future of Blockchains and Solana's Vision(47:29) Long-Term View and GoalsAs 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.
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49:37
With AI, Anyone Can Be a Coder (with Github CEO)
In this special episode from TED Tech, hear from GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke on how AI is breaking the barrier to entry for coding. Who could a coder look like if you could code just by talking out loud? Learn how, thanks to AI, creating software is becoming as simple (and joyful) as building LEGO. In a live demo, he introduces Copilot Workspace: an AI assistant that helps you create code when you speak to it, in any language.Timestamps:(0:00) Introduction(0:28) Personal Journey into Coding(2:31) The Evolution of Programming Languages(4:02) The Birth of GitHub Copilot(6:14) Live Demo: Building with Copilot(9:58) The Future of Software Development(13:04) Q&A: The Role of Humans in AI-Driven Development(14:32) ConclusionAbout TED Tech:From the construction of virtual realities to the internet of things — technology is changing our world every day. But how can we make sure that the quickly-evolving role that tech plays in our lives is one that builds, empowers, and connects us? Host Sherrell Dorsey guides you through the latest ideas from TED Speakers, uncovering the riveting questions that sit at the intersection of technology, society, science, design, business, and innovation. Listen in every Friday.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.
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15:12
AI vs. ID: Proof of human in a world of agents, bots, deep fakes, more
with @eddylazzarin @adrian_ludwig @remco @smc90Hi everyone, welcome to this week’s episode of web3 with a16z podcast, I’m Sonal, and today we’re talking about a hot topic which is also very evergreen because we’re entering a world where AI – including AI agents, bots, deep fakes, and so on -- are changing the internet, very drastically. And so we will need proof of who’s human, or not, online – aka “proof of human” (as Tools for Humanity and World app call it). The theme is actually represented on the latest cover of Time magazine, which features the Tools for Humanity orb: a ball-like hardware device that maps your eye’s iris code to an app on your phone to verify you’re human. (It’s actually only the fifth time in the past decade that hardware tech’s been on the cover; the other times are the iphone, Oculus, consumer drones, and SpaceX.) Since the technology -- and network -- story here draws on both existing and new tech to help solve what’s actually a *very* difficult problem -- and in a way where privacy is by default -- we begin with the why it matters, then go into some common questions, and finally how it all works under the hood. Our expert guests are: Eddy Lazzarin, CTO at a16zcrypto;Adrian Ludwig, Chief Architect and CISO at Tools for Humanity; andRemco Bloemen, Head of Protocol at World.As a reminder: None of the following is investment, business, legal, or tax advice; please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information including link to a list of our investments.
"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.
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