Avichal Garg, X Hall of Flame
2024.07.16 11:44
|
|
According to Avichal Garg, co-founder of venture capital firm Electric Capital, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase will probably not need to mention the word “crypto” in the future.
Garg predicts that “probably in the next five years,” Coinbase will not “really mention crypto” as part of their advertising, as people will just know that you can “buy stuff on Coinbase,” similar to how people view trading platform Robinhood. He thinks it will just be known as another financial instrument that investors can buy and gain yield from.
“The reason I think that is there’s this adage where people overestimate what’s possible in two years, and they underestimate what’s possible in 10,” Garg tells Magazine.
Over the years, Garg has made early investments in several crypto companies, including NFT platform OpenSea, Lightning Network developer Lightning Labs and crypto bank Anchorage Digital.
Garg thinks the introduction ofspot crypto ETFs this yearhas helped repair the damage FTX wrought upon the cryptocurrency industry’s reputation.
“What the ETFs do in my mind is they offset the damage that FTX did. I think SBF really destroyed the brand of crypto and burned a lot of people,” he explains.
“BlackRock coming in and Bitwise pushing the SEC and getting all this stuff through, along with Grayscale winning in court — all these little things have now ticked the ETF. What has happened is you now have approval basically from big chunks of DC and big chunks of Wall Street.”
Meanwhile, Garg believes that even crypto enthusiasts underestimate how mainstream crypto will become in the next few years.
(X/Avichal Garg)
“Crypto is starting to be this sort of substrate that is going to touch a lot of things, and I think a lot of crypto people still think about crypto as its own side thing,” he explains.
“I think that’s not the right way to look at this stuff anymore. I think it was maybe five years ago [when] we were kind of off in our own little corner doing our own thing, and that’s not true anymore,” he says.
What led to Twitter fame for Avichal Garg?
Garg admits he didn’t have any magical formula for building his 52,800 X followers over the years. It was just a slow and steady effort.
“It was just totally organic. Just putting out interesting content and going on podcasts,” he says, admitting that he got in ahead of the pack when it came to producing quality crypto content on social media.
Garg explains that his follower count “really took off in 2018” because there were not that many credible people talking about crypto at the time.
He says that “being in a bunch of good investments” was also a catalyst for his growing follower count, but he admits he could probably have a lot more followers if he put a bit more effort into his social media presence.
“I think I could have a couple hundred thousand, but that’s not really what I’m about,” he says, laughing. Garg explains that he is happy with the number of followers he has now because he doesn’t have to deal with any trolls.
Read also
Features
Godzilla vs. Kong: SEC faces fierce battle against crypto’s legal firepower
Features
Championing Blockchain Education in Africa: Women Leading the Bitcoin Cause
“I actually think I kind of like this 50K to 100K follower zone. It is the sweet spot because I don’t really get any hate on Twitter. My DMs aren’t blowing up all the time with people stalking me,” he says.
“A lot of the founders that need to know me can find me, so it is actually kind of a nice sweet spot. I think if I had a million followers, it would be too stressful,” he adds.
What type of content does Avichal Garg make?
While Garg is sharp in his observations, he focuses more on industry predictions and visions rather than shilling his favorite shitcoins or making price guesses that, more likely than not, will miss the mark.
“I never talk about prices, and I don’t talk about market movements,” Garg declares.
(X/Avichal Garg)
“That’s just not what I’m gonna talk about,” he adds, explaining that he prefers to focus on why blockchain technology and Web3 are “interesting and the downside societal impacts” of the technology.
Garg says that rather than dishing out a million-dollar price prediction for Bitcoin, he would prefer to tell you why you should “care about Solana or Near” and “what you can do with it.”
What type of content does Avichal Garg enjoy?
Just like his own content style, Garg isn’t into the altcoin hype or the bullish Bitcoin enthusiasts who see every dip as a last chance before it skyrockets to six figures.
Instead, he prefers following venture capitalists and industry leaders who share visionary thoughts on the future of crypto.
Marc Andreessen, the billionaire tech entrepreneur and founder of venture capital firm a16z, Peter Thiel, the former CEO of PayPal, and Paul Graham, the co-founder of influential startup accelerator Y Combinator, are among the people Garg enjoys following.
“These are all sort of interesting contrarian thinkers,” Garg says.
Read also
Features
When worlds collide: Joining Web3 and crypto from Web2
Features
The best (and worst) stories from 3 years of Cointelegraph Magazine
Polychain Capital CEO Olaf Carlson-Wee is a “legit genius,” according to Garg.
“He’s just such an interesting dude. Every time I hear him talk, I learn something,” he says.
Avichal Garg’s predictions?
Despite making it clear early in the interview that he’s not a fan of price predictions, Garg finds himself facing the standard Hall of Flame question of what price Bitcoin will reach in the next decade.
“The price will take care of itself,” he says, avoiding giving any specific number. Drawing on his business experience, Garg explains that Web3 isn’t just about quick cash grabs.
(X/Avichal Garg)
“If I’ve learned anything over the last 15 years of leading companies and investing in companies and scaling them and selling them, there are a lot of ways to make money,” he says.
“There are not a lot of ways to create something durable in the world, something that can last for 50 years or 100 years, that’s just more interesting,” he adds.
Subscribe
The most engaging reads in blockchain. Delivered once a
week.
Ciaran Lyons
Ciaran Lyons is an Australian crypto journalist. He’s also a standup comedian and has been a radio and TV presenter on Triple J, SBS and The Project.
