How should the general public view cryptocurrency venture capital firms?

Cryptocurrency researcher Ignas has raised several common questions from general users about venture capital (VC) in the crypto space, and has therefore interviewed several industry insiders to provide participants with a more in-depth perspective on these issues from a venture capital viewpoint.

Is Venture Capital Just Following Trends?

Venture capital should be the market leader, making forward-thinking decisions to lead the market forward. However, when comparing the chart of BTC and institutional investment amounts, it seems that this may not be the case.

Why does venture capital seem to be following market trends rather than setting them? This differs from the traditional understanding of venture capital.

Sachi from Polygon Ventures mentioned that not all venture capital firms follow market trends when making investments. While some venture capital firms, especially in the United States, tend to invest based on market hotspots, many Asian venture capital firms are willing to invest in projects and sectors that are not the current market focus. Therefore, they have become more active during this bear market period as there are good investment opportunities.

Another angel investor, referred to as Aron, stated that projects may raise funds during a bear market, but venture capitalists "will announce at a more advantageous time for them," hence the data in the chart may not be the most up-to-date.

In summary, cryptocurrency venture capital institutions are indeed driving the industry forward, rather than just investing in market hotspots as previously assumed.

Do We Need Cryptocurrency Venture Capital?

Ignas raised another topic of concern, suggesting that the general public actually distrusts venture capital because venture capitalists sell tokens to users in the secondary market after purchasing them early, thereby profiting. Some argue that fair sales would be better for the industry, but is this really the case?

Although Aron agrees that the best projects are those that have not been institutionally invested in and are fairly sold, he also added that fair sales are not absolutely fair, as team members and those closer to the project always have ways to maximize their profits.

Sachi believes that fair sales may only be suitable for founders with prior experience in operating a cryptocurrency company, as smaller projects may not be able to sustain operations in this manner, being too idealistic.

Investor Etienne from TRGC thinks that regardless of whether the distribution is fair or not, retail investors and venture capitalists have the same motivation to make money, and retail investors are not innocent, just players with less money in the market. Therefore, with or without cryptocurrency ventures, the same things will still happen.

In conclusion, based on the viewpoints mentioned above, while fair sales may have higher market acceptance, they may be too idealistic, and the actual benefits may not be significant.

What Can We Learn from Cryptocurrency Venture Capital?

Sachi pointed out that it is important for general investors to ask the right questions and conduct research, such as "Are these real user indicators? What are the qualifications of the founders?" Retail investors should be aware that whenever a project makes an announcement, such as establishing partnerships with large companies or projects, things are much more complex than they appear on the surface. Completing transactions involves many events and interests that may not be visible in the announcement, such as liquidity reward measures, token exchanges, subsidies, etc., all of which require retail investors to conduct their own in-depth research to confirm.

Etienne bluntly advised not to trust venture capital and mentioned that he has turned off 95% of venture capital-related posts and announcements reminders on social platforms, emphasizing the need for individual in-depth research in investments.

In summary, Ignas believes that one should never stop learning as the industry develops rapidly. Improving skills, continuous reading, focusing on key indicators rather than fancy information, and researching projects independently rather than blindly following venture capitalists are the keys to long-term success.