Elon Musk has brought together a diverse group of investors willing to finance the purchase of Twitter for 44,000 million dollars. The list goes from Larry Ellison, the co-founder of Oracle, to the controversial Qatari sovereign wealth fund, going through more or less well-known names. But beyond the different origins, they are all aligned behind the same mission: to grant the necessary financing so that the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX achieves his mission and obtains control over one of the most important social networks in the world.
It is clear that none of those involved is throwing millions of dollars into a common well for the love of art. Each party will try to take advantage of this historic negotiation; some will think of it in purely economic terms, but others will seek something more than mere financial compensation. Here I think it is interesting to focus on two names in particular, Binance Y a16z. And not only because of the important figures that they allocate to this cause, but also because of how they can involve Elon Musk in an issue that both companies consider crucial, but that the businessman has always dismissed: web3 development.
Elon Musk has had no qualms about speaking out against the initiative for a decentralized internet. And he has done it like Elon Musk, through Twitter. In December 2021, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX tweeted “web3 sounds like garbage”in response to a thread by Sam Altman about the flow of investments in these types of projects and the possible levels of return.
Not happy with the initial impact of his statements, days later he doubled down. “Has anyone seen web3? I can’t find it,” he said, and the answers were swift.
billy markus, creator of Dogecoin, the tycoon’s favorite cryptocurrency, responded to the tweet with a GIF of a man with his head in a toilet. “He’s somewhere around here,” he added; and Elon Musk’s response was even less subtle: “Keep going. It’s over there somewhere,” with the animation of a person going full-length down the toilet.
And as if to add fuel to the fire, jack dorsey also made its contribution in the exchange. “It’s somewhere between a and z,” he said, in a clear reference to a16z, the venture capital firm of Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, which has poured money into web-related projects of late. .
In fact, when Andreessen himself blocked the Twitter founder on the social network, Dorsey jumped at the chance to poke fun. “I am officially banned from web3”, published by then.
Let Elon Musk see web3 with different eyes, the challenge of a16z and Binance
Binance and a16z are in the Top 5 of the list of investors that Elon Musk has gathered to buy Twitter. The exchange of cryptocurrencies has committed a contribution of $500 millionwhile Andreessen Horowitz will grant $400 million. The only others that have contributed more are Larry Ellison ($1 billion), Sequoia Capital ($800 million) and VyCapital ($700 million).
And the debate about web3 and the future role of Twitter in its development has everything to become a daily topic. In the end, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), CEO of the cryptoactive exchange platform, made it public. “We are excited to help Elon realize a new vision for Twitter. We look forward to playing a role in bringing social media and web3 together, and expanding the use and adoption of crypto and blockchain technology,” he explained. .
In statements to Financial Times, CZ also said that Binance’s contribution is more of a “blank check” than a carefully planned investment. Be that as it may, the company has left since we are going to try to set the agenda for the future.
On the a16z side, the references around the investment remained in the hands of Ben Horowitz, who although he did not refer specifically to the case of web3, did publish a thread listing some of the reasons why the company decided to make its contribution to the purchase of Twitter. “We invest, because we believe in the vision of Ev [Evan Williams] and Jack to connect the world, and we believe in the brilliance of Elon Musk to finally make it what it was meant to be.”
However, it is impossible not to imagine that Andreessen Horowitz plans to put his interest in web3 on the table as soon as the acquisition is complete. After all, the venture capital firm is not afraid to show that has been thrown headfirst to the decentralized internet initiative. Your website is clear proof of that.
One of the challenges that Elon Musk will face will be balancing the financial contributions and interests of third parties with his own ideas about Twitter. In the specific case of web3, the South African tycoon has already made it clear that he is not a fan of the initiative; but the mere fact that two of his main investors do have an interest in the matter should be reason enough for, at least, hear what they have to say about it. From there to what happens is another story, of course.