Why A16Z is Strong, and Why ABCDE is Closing Down
As long as a species has a wide enough geographical distribution, geographical variation will occur.
ABCDE was deeply hurt by the BTC L2 track, investing $40 million over 3 years, and directly entering the post-investment stage before seeing higher returns.
As early as 2023, Chinese VCs began shifting to secondary markets, or stopping fundraising, focusing on supporting already invested projects on Binance or Gate, hoping to exit with minimal losses.
Never try to earn the last penny, otherwise becoming the focus of emotions and a target of criticism. However, even the person who said this has become a "doomsday cucumber", and the temptation of money does not change with personal will.
A16Z thinks differently. In terms of absolute return rate, Silicon Valley VCs might not be as good as Chinese VCs, but a16z's AI fundraising reached $20 billion, with startup accelerator (CSX) investments starting at $500,000, and their overall Crypto fund size exceeding $7.6 billion.
This is no longer variation, but has become part of the existing and future ecosystem.
Getting investment is different from getting a16z investment.
If we broaden our perspective, the crypto industry is showing a pattern: the West is responsible for concept issuance, the East for project development, the West for capital concentration, and the East for providing liquidity.
Binance and other Chinese platforms still dominate liquidity, with Bitget known for market-making, but why are we gradually taking pride in "internationalization" and treating the Chinese market as secondary?
Image description: a16z American Dynamism Image source: a16z
In exchanges, stablecoins, and even compliance, we are showing a fundamentally lagging appearance. Without spreading emotions, just sharing facts, we are at a historical turning point.
Web2 had this, and it's even more pronounced in Web3.
After DeepSeek R1's "export to import", traditional VCs that have been silent since 2018 are beginning to revive, but must acknowledge that the concept of USD + BVI + VC + Chinese market is gradually disappearing.
More internet strategic investors are becoming independent or canceling, local government industrial guidance funds are more interested in "hard technology" and localization, and central-level planning focuses on future industries.
The reasons for ABCDE, or the entire Chinese Crypto VC decline, are actually self-evident:
1. a16z can love America and the USD, with Silicon Valley investments naturally having global characteristics, embedded in the gene of a new global information capitalist platform;
2. Chinese VCs cannot directly embrace the Chinese market, can only rely on the Western halo, competing by selling Chinese market liquidity.
After A&T's dissolution, internet giants basically ignore Web3, local and central government enterprises mainly discuss blockchain, with cryptocurrency being taboo, and few state-owned or private financial groups' attempts in Hong Kong and Singapore seem more like strategic defense.
The USD is a product, the US market is the front of the global market. a16z's low fundraising threshold and massive scale still have huge profit potential in the global market.
a16z can fail 1000 times until the next Meta or Google appears.
Mobilization or Speculation: Where is the Chinese Crypto World Heading?
Neanderthals had beautiful stone tools but were foolish craftsmen.
In Western history, finance has always been a means of mobilization. Behind the Dutch tulip and British South Sea Securities were the incredibly successful Dutch and British East India Companies.
We need new people and new innovation paths.
The current fact is that our role is a token dumping ground, passively holding the largest liquidity, but powerless against Western VCs, policies, and exchanges, because money can be united, but humans are inherently self-interested.
Speculation is speculation, long-termism is long-termism. Speculators will never acknowledge long-termism.
Bitcoin has only existed for 17 years. Who truly profits - those holding Bitcoin, guiding others to hold and trade Bitcoin, or those exchanging their tokens for others' Bitcoin - is clear at a glance.
Long-termism, like effective altruism, must first solve how to survive until the result is proven.
Conclusion
Income is a series of events, with waves revealing true heroism.
The only question is whether our generation of crypto practitioners can construct public goods facing the world from our local liquidity market, traveling the world and profiting within it.
