This article is for informational purposes only. Any mention of specific projects is not a recommendation or statement as to the validity of said projects or the people involved with them.
Cryptocurrency and AI go hand-in-hand. This is a conclusion I reached some time back and, with each passing week, am more convinced this is our future reality.
It cannot be contested that the capabilities of AI are expanding. Anyone who gives even a courtesy glance at what is occurring will arrive at this viewpoint.
Cryptocurrency is lagging behind a bit. There are a number of reasons for this, including the lack of infrastructure. Many are working on solutions here, including centralized entities (i.e. traditional finance). It is only a matter of time before we see the rails to properly execute transactions in the agentic world.
Over the years, we discussed many industries that could be disrupted. One that was not given a great deal of attention is venture capital. Silicon Valley venture capital firms are still very powerful. Unfortunately, this is the epitome of a closed system that excludes the masses.
Web 3.0 could change that.
AI16z DAO
The solution to this could be the formation of a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). It is something that is being established by the AI16z DAO.
Obviously, anyone who follows technology will be aware of a16z. This is the venture capital fund started by Marc Andreeson and Ben Horowitz. It is one of the more successful VC funds.
The a16z DAO is not associated with the venture capital firm. It appears the founders took the name to drive the point home. In fact, things go one step further with the investment AI agent being called "Marc AIndreessen".
If nothing else, these people have a sense of humor.
Moving passed that, there is some validity to what they are trying to accomplish. This is aligning with the potential we are seeing from AI models.
AI16z DAO is flipping the script on how crypto communities invest, govern, and operate—whether for the memes or for the untapped potential of relying on AI to make data-driven, non-subjective financial decisions.
The DAO basically emulates a hedge fund: DAO members put their money in the hands of an expert—in this case, an AI agent named “Marc AIndreessen”—who uses it to invest in different projects and assets to increase the value of the assets under the fund’s management.
This is what venture capital firms do. Naturally, they are still operated by humans although it is a safe presumption hedge funds are incorporating AI to a much greater degree.
Crypto has long promoted inclusion. Here is where the exclusive nature of venture capital gets eliminated.
The key difference, of course, is that in meatspace venture, only accredited investors are allowed to put their money into a fund like a16z, where the fund managers decide what to invest in (and take out management and other fees for the privilege.) In ai16Z, any individual can invest via the token, and AI agents manage the fund—in this case, the AI version of Marc Andreessen.
Further details about the DAO and how it operates can be found here.
AI Disrupting Everything
This DAO is a proof-of-concept that could spread rapidly. In reviewing the article, it is based upon open source software called "Eliza". From there, data was provided and trained upon, creating the ability to make decisions.
If we want to take this a step further, what we are seeing is the disruption of the DAO. So far, most operate in a manner where the token holders decide on the direction of the organization.
With AI16z, the AI agent has the final decision making authority. It is pushing us closer to true autonomy with our organizations.
This is the future of the Internet. As stated on a number of occasions, we are looking at an agentic future. AI agents will be the next wave, accelerating throughout 2025.
For this reason, it is only sensible that a new business structure emerge to support them. The DAO, something long discussed within the crypto-sphere, is getting a makeover, something that could have impactful results.
One of my theories is that governments, as we know them, are cooked. They were designed in an era where we were physically based. Today, the world, to a great degree, operated from the digital realm. It is a balance that will only move in the direction of the digital.
That means our government systems are obsolete. The concept being laid out here exemplifies this.
Many governments enacted legislation to govern or regulate DAOs. As AI16z shows, if done properly, that is impossible.
What happens when a DAO is truly autonomous, making decisions and being run based upon AI? The tokenization would take place on a truly decentralized system, making it impossible to stop. Trading would occur through decentralized exchanges, avoiding the likes of Binance or Coinbase (which have to adhere to regulation).
Basically, we are looking at an entity that operates completely outside the government system.
The only counter to this is to outlaw the citizens of a country from participating. Of course, as we saw, the is a futility in this when it comes to crypto.
Hence, we could be looking at the start of AI disrupting governments, making them obsolete at some point.