Jack Dorsey and Elon Musk, Questions Web 3 Project Funding

A prominent advocate of Bitcoin and everything decentralization, Jack Dorsey, in a series of recent tweets, has criticized how Web3 projects are getting their funding majorly from venture capitals and liquidation pools.

Dorsey, Musk Criticizes Web3

His criticism against investments being made by these classes of investors is tied to the fact that he believes that the projects would remain under the control of these firms.

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.

Know what you’re getting into…

— jack⚡️ (@jack) December 21, 2021

Later on, Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, gave a cryptic response to his tweet, asking if anyone has seen Web3. Dorsey, in his response, alluded that the Web3 space could be found “between a and z,” a likely nod towards the increasing involvement of Venture Capital firm Andreessen Horowitz’s investments in the industry.

In recent times, the leading VC has made several investments in several projects, including Uniswap and Solana. While several people have welcomed its involvement, many criticize these investments’ significant influence on the space. 

For example, the firm, also known as a16z, owns a large cache of UNI tokens, which means it has significant voting power on Uniswap.

Crypto Community Reacts to Dorsey’s Claim

Dorsey’s comment on the involvement of VCs in Web3 projects has divided opinion on Twitter. Some responses on the social media platform have tied his statement to the fact that web3 projects could someday usurp tech giants like Twitter, Facebook, and others.

Of course, I don't believe Twitter set out to bait & switch devs. Or to promise free speech, get people to invest years in their profiles, then censor them.

But that is where the incentives landed up.

Web3's smart contracts *may* prove more durable than web2's social contracts.

— Balaji Srinivasan (@balajis) December 21, 2021

According to some, VCs also own Twitter itself. Dorsey, however, discredited this, claiming that Twitter is developing a protocol not owned by VCs or itself.

Web3 describes the future of the Internet, where decentralization and user freedom will be the hallmark of the internet space. According to some schools of thought, Web3 would allow users to control their data, resulting in an internet far from what we know presently.

You will note that the space has been enjoying a surge in the level of attraction in recent times as many firms and investors now recognize it as a viable investment option.