Memecoins
Memecoins ‘undermining’ crypto’s long-term vision, says a16z CTO
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The proliferation of memecoins and token projects on various blockchains has captivated investors. Whether for their gimmicky nature or their potential to gain quick leverage and make life-changing profits, memecoins have been controversial in the crypto industry and continue to be.
Eddy Lazzarin, technical director of Andreesen Horowitz (a16z) Crypto, publicly criticized memecoins for “undermining” the long-term vision of crypto. Indeed, according to Lazzarin, this has changed the perception of crypto in the public eye.
In a recent X article, Lazzarin expressed his concerns about the impact of memecoins on the crypto industry.
Aside from undermining the long-term view of crypto that has kept so many of us in the space, memecoins aren’t very interesting technically.
It should come as no surprise that they are not attractive to builders.
– Eddy Lazzarin 🟠🔭 (@eddylazzarin) April 24, 2024
Lazzarin’s criticism of memecoins appears to have been prompted by another post from Michael Dempsey, managing partner at Composé, an investment firm Composé (not to be confused with the DeFi protocol of the same name) backing projects like Arbitrum. Dempsey suggests that memecoins have led to disillusionment and churn among crypto builders, even more so than the recent bear market.
“[…] Building something of lasting value is a long emotional journey and it can be difficult after a 2 year bear market where a few overleveraged morons destroyed the entire market only to turn away from crypto and the main energy vacuum is the game,” Dempsey” said in the initial post that started the thread.
Despite the frustration expressed by some members of the crypto community, memecoins continue to maintain a significant presence in the market.
“Memecoins are changing the way the public, regulators and entrepreneurs perceive crypto. At best, it looks like a risky casino. Or a series of false promises masking a casino. This profoundly affects adoption, regulation/laws and manufacturer behavior. I see the damage every day. You should do it too,” Lazzarin said in response to the thread.
According to CoinGecko, major memecoins collectively represent tens of billions of dollars in market capitalization. Dogecoin (DOGE), often championed by X owner and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, is the most popular memecoin by market capitalization, with a valuation of over $20 billion.
Memecoins on networks like Solana have also gain territorynot without the necessary criticisms in terms of methods to acquire their initial financing. Notably, a16zcrypto itself recently released a guide on how to launch tokens, although it is unclear whether Lazzarin’s statements are related to the recently released guidelines.
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