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Unchained

Chris Blec on Why He Believes a16z’s Uniswap Vote Exposes DeFi as a Farce - Ep. 454

Unchained

Laura Shin

News, Tech News, Business News

4.61.3K Ratings

🗓️ 10 February 2023

⏱️ 35 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Chris Blec, DeFi researcher and founder of the Blec Report, explains why he believes the involvement of Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) in a contentious Uniswap governance proposal flies in the face of crypto’s core value: decentralization. He argues that the venture capital firm’s ability to potentially sway the vote in favor of a portfolio company undermines claims that DeFi is “people-powered.” The vote, which is not yet concluded, is the latest venue for people to debate the merits of DeFi governance and whether one token really should equal one vote. Show highlights: why a16z decided to vote against a key section of the Uniswap governance proposal the problem Chris sees with the current design of DAOs whether there is a parallel to be drawn between TradFi and DAO governance why Chris says people are mistaken when they think about the goals of crypto VC whether the fact that some VCs control so much voting power goes against the ethos of decentralization how Chris thinks VCs are funding lobbyist groups to push for their interests, not those of crypto as a whole why Chris believes the "one token, one vote" system doesn't work some alternatives that could be pursued to help the issue of whale token voting whether regulators will come after DAOs and especially the ones that are using current governance mechanisms Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Guest Chris Blec, DeFi researcher and founder of the Blec Report Twitter Tweet about token voting Tweet about engaging with a16z Links Unchained: Does a16z Control Uniswap? CoinDesk: Contentious Uniswap Vote Highlights the Opaqueness of Decentralized Governance Related Twitter threads: From Eddy Lazzarin From Defi Ignas From Abdullah Umar From Philipp Zentner From Macro Mate From Adam Cochran Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hi everyone, welcome to Unchained, your no-hype resource for all things crypto.

0:08.1

I'm your host, Laura Shin, author of The Crypto Beans.

0:11.8

I started covering crypto seven years ago, and as the senior editor of Forbes was the

0:15.8

first Meetry Meter reporter to cover cryptocurrency full-time.

0:19.4

This is the February 10th, 2023 episode of Unchained.

0:23.6

Crypto moves at lightning speed.

0:25.6

For the latest crypto updates, be sure to subscribe to our daily newsletter at Unchained

0:29.9

Crypto.substac.com, again, that's Unchainedcrypto.substac.com.

0:36.1

With the Crypto.com app, you can buy, earn, and spend crypto in one place, download and

0:41.0

get $25 with the code, Laura, link in the description.

0:46.2

Today's guest is Chris Black, DeFi researcher and analyst and founder of the Black Report.

0:51.8

Welcome Chris.

0:52.8

Hey Laura, thanks for having me on.

0:55.3

This week, A16Z Crypto's participation in a Uniswap vote caused quite a bit of uproar

1:01.2

in the community.

1:02.7

The proposal was whether or not to deploy Uniswap V3 on the B&B chain, and in an initial

1:09.6

temperature check vote before the formal proposal, more than 60% of the community wanted

1:15.2

to deploy using the wormhole bridge, rather than using layer 0, which is an A16Z portfolio

1:22.4

company.

1:23.5

However, at that time, A16Z was actually not able to participate in that temperature

1:27.8

vote check.

1:28.8

And then so when the formal vote started, and this, again, was just on whether or not

...

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