Venture Round with Meltem Demirors and Vanessa Grellet

Episode 115 of Season 4 of The Scoop was recorded live with The Block's Frank Chaparro, CoinShares CSO Meltem Demirors, and Aglaé Ventures' Managing Partner Vanessa Grellet.

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In this venture capital-focused segment of The Scoop, CoinShares Chief Strategy Officer Meltem Demirors and Aglaé Ventures Managing Partner Vanessa Grellet explain which crypto verticals are oversaturated, and examine how market dynamics have changed since last year.

Although the crypto industry has experienced many boom-and-bust cycles before, Demirors says “2021 will be one of the worst years for crypto venture returns.”

Demirors explains that one of the reasons for this is a mismatch in block space supply and demand that was created during the proliferation of competing Layer 1 blockchains last year:

“We're seeing that now with all of these overfunded L1s — there's just more block space than there is demand for block space.”

Instead of mimicking existing successful projects, Grellet suggests that up-and-coming crypto projects should identify how they plan to differentiate themselves early on:

“The question is, if you are a new platform coming into space or a new marketplace, what is distinctive that you bring that will allow for the end user to come to your platform rather than going to the existing incumbents?”

During this episode Chaparro, Demirors, and Grellet also discuss:

  • The Ethereum Foundation’s Devcon in Bogota
  • How macro events have impacted valuations
  • The financialization of NFTs

This episode is brought to you by our sponsors Tron, Ledn, Athletic Greens
About Tron
TRON is dedicated to accelerating the decentralization of the internet via blockchain technology and decentralized applications (dApps). Founded in September 2017 by H.E. Justin Sun, the TRON network has continued to deliver impressive achievements since MainNet launch in May 2018. July 2018 also marked the ecosystem integration of BitTorrent, a pioneer in decentralized web3 services boasting over 100 million monthly active users. The TRON network completed full decentralization in December 2021 and is now a community-governed DAO. | TRONDAO | Twitter | Discord |

About Ledn
Ledn was founded on the unshakeable conviction that digital assets have the power to democratize access to the global economy. We help you to experience the real life benefits of your Bitcoin without having to sell it. Start a savings account, take out a loan, or double your Bitcoin. For more information visit Ledn.io

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© 2024 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

About Authors

Davis Quinton is the Director of Podcasts at The Block and runs our flagship podcast called The Scoop, hosted by Frank Chaparro. Since joining The Block as an 'intern' in early 2022, he has worked closely with leaders across departments to translate The Block's written content into engaging multimedia formats. He holds a degree in Social Research & Public Policy from New York University in Abu Dhabi and is based in Sydney, Australia.
Frank Chaparro is Host of The Scoop podcast and Director of Special Projects. He also writes a biweekly newsletter. Chaparro started his career at Business Insider, where he specialized in the intersection of digital assets and Wall Street, market structure, and financial technology. Soon after joining Business Insider out of Fordham University, Chaparro was interviewing top finance and tech executives, including billionaire Mark Cuban, “Flash Boys” star Brad Katsuyama, Cboe Global Markets CEO Ed Tilly, and New York Stock Exchange President Tom Farley. In 2018, he become a sought after reporter in the crypto world, interviewing luminaries such as Tyler Winklevoss, the cofounder of Gemini, Jeremy Allaire, the CEO of Circle, and Fundstrat head Tom Lee. For inquiries or tips, email [email protected].

Editor

To contact the editor of this story:
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