May 3, 2022
By Anjali Kochhar
Shaun Maguire, a cryptocurrency partner of Venture Capital firm Sequoia Capital, is not very optimistic about the future of VC firms investing in the crypto sector.
According to him, companies that are now experimenting with crypto investments, will “pull back” in the near future.
This will happen because of the current market conditions and a misunderstanding of crypto as an investment, he said in a podcast with TechCrunch Monday.
However, he made clear that Sequoia will not fall in this category due to the way in which these investments are made in the firm.
“Sequoia is very deliberate with everything we do and we spend huge amounts of time debating every strategy change, everything, we debate every seed investment to sometimes excruciating detail, but it helps us make really good decisions and make decisions as a team rather than as individuals,” he said.
The firm, which has already invested in several companies in the sector like Polygon, launched a $500- $600 million fund in February to invest in “liquid” crypto assets.
Maguire further noted that there is a fundamental misunderstanding of what crypto and Web3 might offer as new technologies, with some investors touting decentralization as a “silver bullet.” Maguire declared:
“Decentralization is not a silver bullet that just solves all problems and is better for everything. You know for the vast majority of computing, you want it to be centralized,” he said.
About the author
Anjali Kochhar covers cryptocurrency stories in India as well as globally. Having been in the field of media and journalism for over three years now, she has developed a sharp news sense and works hard to present information that goes beyond the obvious. She is an avid reader and loves writing on a wide range of subjects.
