USV sees its Libra investment as a way to bolster investments across the crypto space

Union Square Ventures (USV) believes its Libra investment will bolster its investments across the industry, even if a more decentralized governance model leads to a smaller piece of the Libra pie. Nick Grossman, partner at USV, told The Scoop that a Libra investment is about investing in crypto architecture rather than direct yield.

Grossman said the space lacks mainstream browsers and apps with crypto capabilities, but Libra could bump that exposure. Still, with the regulatory cloud that has hung over the project, a launch is still far off, according to Grossman. 

One of the biggest questions surrounding the project remains governance. USV currently has a seat at the 100 person table, but Grossman said this structure will likely change as the Libra Association addresses concerns of centralized governance.

"I do think that governance around the Libra blockchain and Libra architecture will evolve and become more balanced," he said. 

Still, Facebook has driven the development of the product, causing some to question how it can be differentiated from a Facebook product. However, Grossman likened the development process to most projects in the crypto space.

"You have to look at it over time like every project, especially in this space, you start off with a small, closed group, and if it works, it grows and decentralizes over time," he said.

In this case, this could mean opening up participation in the association to a wider audience, which would dilute the potential yields for the original 100 members. However, Grossman said this wouldn't undercut USV's investment strategy. Rather than taking a big piece of the pie, Grossman said the idea is to grow the pie itself. If Libra delivers on its potential to increase crypto exposure, this could bump USV's yields on its investments across the crypto space.

"We really see it as as an ecosystem stimulant hopefully as much as a direct financial investment," he said.