‘Dismissing Crypto Same As Dismissing Internet In 1993’ – Benedict Evans
Dismissing Crypto Same As Dismissing Internet – A general partner at Andreessen Horowitz (A16Z), one of the most successful venture capital firms around the globe, Benedict Evans, has said that crypto is similar to the internet in 1993.
Just like other emerging technology or market, the cryptocurrency market has seen a large number of failed projects and scams over the past several years.
However, according to Benedict Evans, if investors focus on the failed projects and fraudulent operations in the growing cryptocurrency sector, it would be like dismissing the internet in 1999 based on the lack of progress of Usenet, Cuecat, and Boo.com.
He said: “Crypto today has a lot in common with both the internet in 1993 and the internet in 1999. Huge potential with few of the use cases invented yet, combined with froth, scams and delusion. This makes it easier to dismiss. But dismissing crypto as a useless scam is much like looking at Usenet, Cuecat and Boo.com and dismissing the internet. It mistakes applications for the enabling layer.”
As it is with a new market, investors often try to rush in to invest in every new project to catch the bubble. Several cryptocurrency projects reached multi-billion dollar valuations in late 2017 as the valuation of the cryptocurrency market reached $800 billion.
Evans however explained that as the market matures, technologies employed by projects in the sector will improve.
He said: “Looking at crypto and only seeing the scams is like looking at the internet in 1999 and only seeing the bubble. Looking at crypto and seeing no use cases is like looking at the internet in 1993, when the web was 3% of traffic,”