- Jack Dorsey went on an unfollowing spree after dissing Web3 on Twitter.
- Marc Andreessen, the founder of venture capital firm a16z, shot back by blocking Dorsey.
- Dorsey has snubbed the future internet as owned by venture capitalists, not individuals.
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Jack Dorsey unfollowed several Web3 gurus on Twitter after dissing the metaverse — and even got blocked himself.
The Twitter founder and current CEO of Block (formerly Square) unfollowed a16z founder Marc Andreessen, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, and Gemini CEO Tyler Winklevoss, CoinDesk reported Wednesday.
The spat escalated between Dorsey and Andreessen when the venture capitalist blocked Dorsey, a bitcoin proponent. To which he replied, "I'm officially banned from web3."
Winklevoss, for his part, doesn't plan to unfollow Dorsey back over a difference of opinion, saying "He is an incredible entrepreneur and even more incredible human being."
The series of events began with a December 20 tweet from Dorsey that suggested Web3, also known as the metaverse, isn't actually a way for individuals to own the next version of the internet and warned it's still the realm of tech giants.
"You don't own 'web3,'" he wrote. "The VCs and their LPs do. It will never escape their incentives. It's ultimately a centralized entity with a different label. Know what you're getting into…"
Even billionaire Tesla chief Elon Musk got in on the Twitter spat over the metaverse, a future version of the internet where people can virtually interact. He's called it nothing more than a "marketing buzzword" and "bs."
"Has anyone seen web3? I can't find it." Musk tweeted on December 20. Dorsey replied with a likely jab at a16z, saying "It's somewhere between a and z."
In another tweet, Dorsey called out a16z's Twitter bio, which reads "we invest in software eating the world," as "so... dark." A16z, which is also known as Andreessen Horowitz, has been rapidly investing in crypto startups and Web3, saying crypto will "transform all aspects of our lives."
Venture capital funds poured a record $30 billion into crypto projects in 2021, more than quadruple the last record in 2018 of about $8 billion, according to market research firm PitchBook. Sky Mavis, which owns the ethereum-based metaverse game Axie Infinity, for example, scored a $3 billion valuation after raising $150 million in a funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz.