Blockchain technology is ‘the future of the internet’, says key crypto investor Chris Dixon

Chris Dixon, Andreessen Horowitz general partner, joins ‘Squawk Box’ to discuss the ramifications of SEC’s spot bitcoin ETFs decision, the NFT market, the state of crypto at large, future of crypto regulation, and more.

TAKING PLACE IN EUROPE AND THE UNITED STATES? >> MEANTIME, OUR NEXT GUEST IS ONE OF THOSE INFLUENTIAL INVESTORS IN THE WORLD OF CRYPTO. CHRIS DIXON A GENERAL PARTNER IN ANDREESSEN HOROWITZ. NOTABLE INVESTMENTS INCLUDE COINBASE AND OTHERS. NEW BOOK TITLED “READ, WRITE,

OWN: BUILDING THE NEXT ERA OF THE INTERNET.” CHRIS, THANK YOU FOR BEING WITH US. >> THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME, ANDREW. >> ABOUT A MILLION QUESTIONS I HAVE. I WANT TO GET TO THE BOOK AND TALK ABOUT THE BOOK, BUT BEFORE

WE HIT THE BOOK I THINK WE’RE ALL TRYING TO UNDERSTAND WHAT JUST HAPPENED WITH THE S.E.C. AND THIS BITCOIN ETF AND WHAT IT MEANS NOT JUST FOR BITCOIN POTENTIALLY FOR THE U.S.? >> CRYPTO HAS BEEN CONTROVERSIAL ANY ACCEPTANCE IS A GOOD THING. A NET-POSITIVE.

THAT SAID I’M VERY FOCUSED, AND OUR FIRM IS, ENTREPRENEURS BUILDING NEW UTILITIES AND APPLICATIONS USED BY MILLIONS EVENTUALLY BILLIONS. FOCUS ON INSTRUMENTS. >> YOU SEPARATED YT OF MONEY CRYPTO VERSUS, LIKE, UTILITY CRYPTO, IF YOU WILL. >> YEAH.

>> AND HOW MUCH OF A FUTURE DO YOU THINK MONEY CRYPTO REALLY HAS? >> I THINK, LOOK, PAYMENTS, DEFI. BITCOINS ARE IMPORTANT APPLICATIONS. I VIEW BLOCKCHAINS AS AN EXPANSIVE TECHNOLOGY. A NEW WAY TO BUILD INTERNET SERVICE SERVICES. THOSE CAN BE GAMES, FINANCIAL SERVICES.

THE FINANCIAL PART IS IMPORTANT BUT IN A LOT OF WAYS OVERPLAYED IN THE DISCUSSIONS. IT’S ONE OF THE THINGS I TRY TO DO IN MY BOOK, DESCRIBE UP A THE DIFFERENT EXPANSIVE USE CASES FOR THE TECHNOLOGY. >> SO SOLANA IS ONE THAT

ACTUALLY HAS A BIG USE CASE, LIE ETHEREUM. CURIOUS, DOES IT TURN INTO ITS OWN ETF? WHERE DO YOU THINK IT REALLY GOES? >> SPECIFIC ETFs PLAY OUT A LONG TIME. I THINK DISCUSSION OF ETHEREUM ETF. I THINK THIS TECHNOLOGY IS INEVITABLE. THE FUTURE OF THE INTERNET, I THINK.

OVER TIME YOU’LL SEE GREATER, AND GREATER ACCEPTANCE OF ETFs AND OTHER TYPES OF FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS, BUT THAT WILL TAKE TIME. OUR FOCUS ON INVESTING IN ENTREPRENEURS — >> NERVE SOMETHING YOU’D LIKE AT? TOO FAR DOWN THE ROAD? >> FOR US. NO. GENERALLY EARLY-STAGE INVESTORS

LOOKING AT, MEETING WITH ENTRE ENTREPRENEURS, INTERESTING IDEAS. AN INTERESTING TECHNOLOGY BUILDING NEW INTERNET SERVICES, THAT’S KIND OF OUR FOCUS. >> CAN I ASK INVESTING IN ENTREPRENEURS AND COMING OUT OF CRYPTO, ONE SEEM IT’S LIKE BIG IDEA, NIFTs. HOTTEST IN THE WORLD.

EVERYONE WANTED TO GET A CHIMP A MONKEY. REMEMBER? NOW NOBODY WANTS A CHIMP OR MONKEY. MAYBE YOU THINK THEY DO. >> YEAH. >> WHAT HAPPENS TO THIS IDEA OF TOKENIZING ART? >> I THINK THAT’S THE SORT OF DEATH OF NFTs EXAGGERATING. LAST YEAR $28.7 BILLION IN SALES

OF NFTs, A TECHNOLOGY STANDARDIZED AND INVENTED IN 2020. VERY EARLY TECHNOLOGY. LIKE A LOT OF TECHNOLOGIES YOU GO THROUGH BOOM/BUST CYCLES. A LOT OF PEOPLE THINK OF NFTs AS SORT OF AVATARS. IN FACT, IT’S AN EXPANSIVE TECHNOLOGY. WE SEE MUSICIANS USING NFTs TO

SELL DIGITAL MEMP DICE TO AUDIENCES CREATING NEW INCOME STREAMS SUPPLEMENTING STREAMING THAT DOESN’T PAY WELL AND USED IN SOCIAL NETWORKS. X EXISTING SOCIAL NETWORKS YOU CAN’T LEAVE BUILD AN ALGORITHM AND YOU’RE STUCK WITH IT. A VERY BROAD TECHNOLOGY. ONLY SCRATCHED THE SURFACE AND

GOT A LONG WAY TO GO. WE’RE VERY EXCITED ABOUT IT. >> A SEPARATE QUESTION ON CRYPTO WHICH IS A LOT OF PEOPLE LOOK AT CRYPTO AND THINK NO REGULATION TO ALL OF THIS. NOT ONLY VERY LIG REL LATION, STILL DON’T HAVE MEANINGFUL REGULATION, THE VENTURE

CAPITALIST COMMUNITY IS NOT EFFECTIVELY, PROPERLY, REGULATING THE BUSINESS INSOFAR AS LOOKING AT THE INVESTMENTS IN THE RIGHT WAY. DOING DUE DILIGENCE AND THE LIKE OPINION I’VE MADE THE ARGUMENT, CURIOUS IF YOU AGREE OR DISAGREE, I’VE SAID TO PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY AFTER THE FTX OF IT ALL.

LOOKED A CREDITOR CAN GET ALL YOUR MONEY, POSSIBLY MORE, INTERESTING. ON THE BACK OF SOLANA, INTERESTED IN THIS. I SAID, LOOK, MOST VENTURE CAPITALISTS ARE BUYING 10, 20, 30 INVESTMENTS. THEY EXPECT 10 OR 20 OF THEM, TO GO TO 0. HOW THEY GET TO 0 IS ALMOST

BESIDE THE POINT. SO THE KIND OF DILIGENCE THAT SOMEHOW THE PUBLIC IS EXPECTING FROM THE VENTURE WORLD IS NOT MATCHED WITH REALITY. DO YOU AGREE WITH THAT? >> NO. LOOK, WE TAKE REGULATORY POLICY ASPECTS OF THIS AREA VERY SERIOUSLY. WE HAVE A SIGNIFICANT POLICY

TEAM, PUBLISHING ARTICLES ON POLICY CALLING FOR GREATER REGULATORY CLARITY FOR A LONG TIME. I PERSONALLY GO TO D.C. A LOT. WE TAKE THIS VERY SERIOUSLY. NOT INVESTORS IN FTX FOR THOSE REASONS THAT WE DID SEE RED FLAGS AND WE’VE BEEN INVOLVED WITH COINBASE MANY YEARS, A

HIGHLY REGULATED BUSINESS. KYC SINCE THE BEGINNING. TAKE THIS STUFF SERIOUSLY. 2R50U TRUE VENTURE CAPITAL IS RISKY AND LOSE A LOT OF MONEY IN INVESTMENTS BUT ARE BASED IN THE UD AND TAKE U.S. REGULATIONS VERY, VERY SERIOUSLY AND STRONG ADVOCATES FOR MORE GUARDRAILS AROUND THE TECHNOLOGY.

>> TALKING A LOT ABOUT A.I. YOU WRITE IN YOUR BOOK ABOUT A.I. AND TOKENIZATION AND THE NEED FOR THAT ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO THIS IDEA OF DEEPFAKE. SAW A DEEPFAKE OF TAYLOR SWIFT THAT WAS TAKEN DOWN, BUT AFTER 50-SOME ODD MILLION PEOPLE SOUGHT IT LAST WEEK?

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN LONG TERM? >> YEAH. I’M VERY EXCITED ABOUT A.I. OBVIOUSLY. OUR FIRM INVESTS IN A LOT OF A.I. POWERFUL NEW TECHNOLOGY. DEEPFAKES WILL BE INCREASINGLY COMMON AND YOU’LL SEE ADVANCED PHISHING AND COUNTERFEIT PEOPLE. GOING TO BE VERY HARD TO TELL ON

THE INTERNET WHAT’S REAL AND WHAT ISN’T. I BELIEVE, AND WRITE IN THE BOOK, BLOCKCHAINS OF AN IMPORTANT COUNTERMEASURE. CREATING AN IMMUTABLE AUDIT TRAIL SAYING THIS VIDEO CAME FROM CNBC. CAME FROM THE “NEW YORK TIMES.” >> REQUIRED FOR ANY OF THE SOCIAL MEDIA SITES?

>> I THINK THAT THAT’S A POLICY APPROACH THAT SHOULD REALLY BE LOOKED AT. IN THE IDEAL WORLD — >> COMING FROM THE U.S. GOVERNMENT? >> I THINK, YEAH, PROBABLY — >> NOT VOLUNTARILY? >> HARD TO GET PARTIES TO COORDINATE WITH SOME GOVERNMENT ACTION.

RIGHT WAY TO DO THAT, HAVE SOME RECORD WHERE DID THE VIDEO COME FROM? IS IT REAL? SOCIAL NETWORKS ENFORCEMENT THEY DON’T SHOW FAKE VIDEOS. THIS WILL BECOME AN INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT ISSUE AND NEED TO THINK ABOUT IT NOW HOW T