Money will be digital in ten years’ time, much like books and music now are, believes Katie Haun. The general partner at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz also believes that Libra will play a key role in the digitization of money.
We live in a world where everything is digital, except for money. While there are platforms like PayPal and Venmo that have digitized payments, they still rely on physical banks’ IOUs. This is going to change, Haun revealed during an interview with Bloomberg, stating:
“In 10 years, the actual bits and bytes are going to be bearer instruments.”
The Real Winners
The winners in this new dispensation will be the consumers. Haun remarked:
“One of the biggest class of winners will be consumers, not necessarily a corporate group. All of a sudden people can do things without the middlemen, without the corporations.”
While it may have faced fierce opposition, she believes that Facebook’s Libra will play a big role in the future of money. However, Libra won’t be the only player, Haun stated. Other stablecoins will spring up to serve different needs. Andreessen Horowitz has already invested in Libra’s rival Celo.
The Silicon Valley VC firm, known for investing in startups such as Facebook, Twitter, Skype, and Airbnb in their early stages, is backing the “picks and shovels” of the crypto industry, Haun revealed. These include exchanges like Coinbase, where she serves as a board member, and custodians like Anchorage.
Blockchain Gaming Will Be Huge
While there are plenty of opportunities in the crypto industry, Haun sees blockchain games as one of the biggest opportunities that are yet to be explored. Gaming is bigger than music and film combined, she told Bloomberg, adding:
“At the same time a large percentage of gaming revenues come from in-app purchases. All of a sudden if you think of crypto as a way for you to have digital goods that are truly scarce that the gamer actually owns, and can transfer to another game — all kinds of possibilities are unlocked.”
Andreessen Horowitz has been a pioneer in Silicon Valley’s foray into crypto. As BeInCrypto reported a month ago, the firm raised over half a billion dollars in ‘Crypto Fund II.’ Haun, who co-manages this fund, believes that we’ll see more VCs jump on the bandwagon and invest in crypto.
Current regulatory restrictions have been a big hindrance, however. In order to invest flexibly in crypto, VC firms have to acquire a license as registered investment advisors. Andreessen Horowitz received the license in April of last year.
