@bravojohnson

I think Farcaster will be back when a16z’s tax burden rises 1%. It didn’t grow because users demanded decentralized social, because its UX beat Web2, or because its network effects were organic; it grew because a16z’s legitimacy pulled founders, funds, and media attention, because being there signaled alignment with the right capital cohort, and because activity clustered where optionality clustered—usage was financially reflexive, not socially reflexive. That doesn’t mean decentralization has no real uses; it means those uses weren’t the driver but for large funds, marginal tax changes matter more than marginal product improvements, especially after ZIRP collapsed time horizons and normalized speculation. Moving activity on-chain recharacterized income, deferred realization, and justified new structures; so you’ll see when off-chain carry worsens or regulatory pressure rises, web3 becomes interesting again—not because it’s good social tech, but because it’s a flexible wrapper.

1 reply

1 recast

10 reactions