a16z crypto: Still Betting Long on Crypto, Believing Other Category Apps Will Emerge Post-Blockchain Financial Inclusion

On February 7, Chris Dixon—partner at a16z and head of a16z Crypto—posted a social media article titled *The Long Game of Cryptocurrency*. He pushed back against two prevalent claims: that crypto’s non-financial use cases are dead, and that the “read-write-own” model has failed. Both, he argued, misinterpret crypto’s core thesis and misjudge its developmental stage. Dixon noted blockchain’s core innovation is a new primitive: the ability to coordinate labor and capital at internet scale, embed ownership directly into systems, and increasingly orchestrate AI agents. “We’re in blockchain’s financial era,” he said—but this was never meant to be the only phase, nor was finance a side note. Finance is the natural proving ground for the primitive’s value, serving as the foundation for all other applications. At a16z, the firm takes a long-term view: its fund structure is built for a 10+ year horizon, as building new industries requires time and careful sequencing. Infrastructure precedes new app categories—just as the internet started with packet switching, TCP/IP, and basic connectivity before social media, streaming, or online communities emerged once billions were online. For crypto, meaningful adoption in media, gaming, AI, or other sectors will likely follow onboarding billions via financial use cases (payments, stablecoins, savings, DeFi), leveraging existing wallets, identity, liquidity, and trust mechanisms. a16z has spent over five years advocating for clear token regulatory frameworks. Great endeavors take time: AI’s current breakthroughs stem from decades of work, and building a new tech system is a marathon—slow groundwork followed by a sharp inflection point. The future’s “obvious” wins are forged in these turbulent years.