Prominent venture capitalists Haseeb Qureshi of Dragonfly and Chris Dixon of a16z Crypto have presented contrasting views on the trajectory of cryptocurrency adoption, debating whether finance is crypto's final form or merely its first successful chapter. The exchange, which focused on gaming, media, regulation, and adoption, examined why financial applications have scaled while non-financial consumer web3 products have largely struggled.
Haseeb Qureshi directly challenged the narrative that regulation and scams killed consumer web3. "He questioned whether figures like Gary Gensler caused those products to fail," the report noted, pointing out that financial crypto faced heavier scrutiny yet still succeeded. Qureshi argued that consumer web3 products, like crypto games and media, failed because users simply did not want them, despite large amounts of capital and talent being deployed. He listed crypto use cases that achieved bottom-up adoption based on real demand, all of which are financial: Bitcoin, stablecoins, Ethereum, ICOs, DeFi, NFTs, prediction markets, and Real-World Assets (RWAs).
In contrast, Chris Dixon framed crypto's current financial phase as a necessary foundation, not an endpoint. "He explained that blockchains introduced a coordination primitive, with finance emerging first because infrastructure had to develop before other sectors," drawing a parallel to the early internet's development. Dixon stated that a16z crypto has pushed for clearer token regulation for over five years, citing the GENIUS framework, and suggested that trust erosion from scams and regulatory pressure have limited token-based communities for now.
The debate is underscored by hard data on capital flows and revenue. Venture funding in crypto surged in 2025, surpassing $20 billion—the highest since 2022—with $8.5 billion in Q4 alone across 425 deals. Capital focused on later-stage rounds, infrastructure, and DeFi. Meanwhile, Total Value Locked (TVL) in DeFi recovered to about $99.07 billion, and stablecoin supply exceeded $307 billion. Revenue concentration further highlights the divide: financial protocols like PancakeSwap (CAKE) generated about $15.8 million in 30-day earnings, while Aave (AAVE) generated $10.4 million. In comparison, non-financial sectors like gaming showed thin revenue density and struggled to convert user engagement into durable cash flow once token subsidies faded.
