2020 Year in Review Blockchain Capital

 
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2020 Year in Review Blockchain Capital
1

2020 Year in Review
Blockchain Capital

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2020 Year in Review Blockchain Capital
2

Table of Contents

  Macro Environment   3

  Bitcoin             9

  Ethereum & DeFi     16

  Stablecoins         28

  Prime Brokerage     35

  Regulation          40

  Adoption            49

  Looking Ahead       56

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2020 Year in Review Blockchain Capital
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     1

   Macro
Environment

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2020 Year in Review Blockchain Capital
4

2020 brought unprecedent levels of money
printing
            $8
Trillions

            $7

            $6

            $5

            $4

            $3

            $2

            $1

            $-
                 D-02   D-03   D-04   D-05   D-06   D-07   D-08   D-09   D-10    D-11   D-12    D-13   D-14   D-15   D-16     D-17     D-18     D-19

                                                                  Fed.          ECB       BoJ

     “We’re not out of ammunition by a long shot….there’s really no limit to what we
                                can do with these lending programs that we have.”
                                         — Fed Chairman Jerome Powell 5.17.20
 Source: FRED as of 11/16/20

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2020 Year in Review Blockchain Capital
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  Globally, GDP and interest rates plummeted
  in the wake of COVID-19’s impact
 Real GDP % change from preceding year                                  Central bank interest rates
                                                                        5.00%
  6%
  4%                                                                                                                                       United
                                                                        4.00%                                                              States
  2%                                                                                                                                       United
  0%                                                                    3.00%                                                              Kingdom
                                                                                                                                           European
 -2%
                                                                                                                                           Union
 -4%                                                                    2.00%                                                              Japan
 -6%
                                                                                                                                           China
 -8%                                                                    1.00%
-10%                                                                                                                                       Switzerland
                                                                        0.00%

                                                                  nd
                                              an
                                   on
               s

                           m

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                                                      in
                        do

                                               p

                                                                la
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                                                   Ch
                                            Ja
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                                                              er
                                U
                     ng

                                                                        -1.00%
                                                             itz
                                an
        d

                   Ki
     ite

                                                            Sw
                              pe
                   d
  Un

                ite

                            ro

                                                                                  9

                                                                                  9

                                                                                  9

                                                                                  0

                                                                                  0

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                                                                                01

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                         Eu
             Un

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                                                                           31

                                                                           31

                                                                           30

                                                                           31

                                                                           31

                                                                           30
                                     2019   2020

                                                                        1/

                                                                        5/

                                                                        9/

                                                                        1/

                                                                        5/

                                                                        9/
§ Economic growth in 2020 has hit a multi-year low in                  § COVID-19 accelerated the breakdown of monetary
  China and the United States                                            policy, which prompted a more serious consideration of
                                                                         using negative rates to bolster the economy
§ Compared to 2019, where the global economy as a
  whole rose by just 2.4%, 2020 levels are at its                      § The use of negative interest rates is becoming
  lowest since the 2009 financial crash                                  increasingly less taboo – China just issued their first debt
                                                                         with negative rates

   Source: IMF as of 11/16/20

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2020 Year in Review Blockchain Capital
6

U.S. saw historic unemployment rates as the
economy came to a halt
Consumer Price Index and Unemployment Rate
  300                                                                                                                   16.0%

                                                                                                      CPI               14.0%
  250

                                                                                                                        12.0%

  200
                                                                                                                        10.0%

  150                                                                                                                   8.0%

                                                                                                                        6.0%
  100

                                                                                                                        4.0%

   50
                                                                                                                        2.0%
                                                                                        Unemployment
    0                                                                                                                   0.0%
        1970                     1980             1990        2000               2010                          2020

    § Unemployment rate reached historic levels as the economy came to a halt for an extended period of
      time

    § While growth is expected in 2021, coronavirus arrived amid the longest expansion in modern American
      history—as the economy had grown for more than 11 years and added jobs for 113 straight months
Source: FRED as of 11/16/20, IMF as of 10/20/20

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2020 Year in Review Blockchain Capital
7

Trust in the federal reserve continued to drop
                  50%

                                                                                      Over 65 years old
   A great deal,
  fair amount of
        trust
                  40%
                                                                                                    50 to 64 years
                                         High school
                                                                                     $50k plus
                                           or less
                                                                                                               Bachelor’s
                                                                            Some                                Degree
                                                                           College
                                      18 to 29 years old
                  30%
                                     Under $50k
                                                           30 to 49 years old

                  20%

                          50%                       60%                               70%                                 80%
                                               Knowledge of the Fed and its role

                                On average, only ~34% of Americans have a
                                 fair amount of trust in the federal reserve

Source: Axios as of 10/20/20

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2020 Year in Review Blockchain Capital
8

Since de-leveraging, bitcoin outperformed
and decoupled from equities and risk assets
   1.4
                                                                                                                                                 157% YTD
   1.2

     1

   0.8

   0.6

   0.4                                                                                                                                                           Bitcoin
                                                                                                                                                                 US Treasuries
   0.2
                                                                                                                                                                 Gold
     0                                                                                                                                                           Investment Grade Bonds
                                                                                                                                                                 US Equities
  -0.2
                                                                                                                                                                 Emerging Markets

  -0.4                                                                                                                                                           High Yield Bonds
                                                                                                                                                                 Commodities
  -0.6

  -0.8
        20

                     20

                                  20

                                               20

                                                            20

                                                                         20

                                                                                      20

                                                                                                   20

                                                                                                                20

                                                                                                                              0

                                                                                                                                           0
                                                                                                                            02

                                                                                                                                         02
     20

                  20

                               20

                                            20

                                                         20

                                                                      20

                                                                                   20

                                                                                                20

                                                                                                             20

                                                                                                                         /2

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   1/

                1/

                             1/

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1/

             2/

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                                                                                                                     10

                                                                                                                                  11
  Source: Yahoo Finance as of 11/12/20.
  Note: Price data is composed of the following: Invesco 1-30 Year Laddered Treasury ETF (PLW), SPDR Gold Shares (GLD), Markit iBoxx
  USD Liquid Investment Grade Bond ETF (LQD), Bloomberg Barclays High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (JNK), iShares Russell 3000 Index
  ETF (IWV), iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IEMG), iShares S&P GSCI Commodity-Indexed Trust (GSG).

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2020 Year in Review Blockchain Capital
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   2

Bitcoin

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2020 Year in Review Blockchain Capital
10

Bitcoin’s thesis matures, accelerating amid
COVID-19 backdrop

                 §   COVID-19 initiated unprecedented macro policy and currency
                     printing, increasing the risks of future inflation
       Macro     §   Geopolitical tensions escalated, increasing the importance of
                     censorship resistant platforms

                 §   PayPal, Square and fintech companies provide bitcoin onramps
                     for millions of new users
   On-Ramps      §   Global exchange infrastructure continues to develop, with
                     stablecoins playing a key role in on / off ramps

                 §   Public companies, like Square, buy bitcoin as a part of treasury
  Diversified        strategy, treating bitcoin as a reserve asset

   Investors     §   Institutional investors, like Paul Tudor Jones, publicly announce
                     their bitcoin positions

 Institutional   §   Bitcoin options and CME bitcoin futures hit all time highs

      Growth     §   Growth of crypto-native credit exploded, tightening spreads
                     and expanding liquidity

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   Bitcoin remains king, reaching new market cap
   all time highs
100000            Libertarians /                             Early                                     Retail                          Institutions+
                     Crypto                                 Adopters                                 Investors
                   Enthusiasts
 10000                                                  Digital gold
                                         Peer-to-peer
                                          payments

  1000
                     Proof of
                    concept for
                     e-money                                                                    Censorship-
   100                                                                                                                                Safe haven
                                                                                              resistant store of
                                                                                                                                         asset
                                                                                                    value

    10

    1
    7/18/10       7/18/11       7/18/12       7/18/13   7/18/14        7/18/15   7/18/16   7/18/17         7/18/18           7/18/19          7/18/20

   0.1

  0.01

     Source: CoinMetrics as of 12/7/20

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The evolution of bitcoin’s infrastructure is
shifting quickly to institutional grade
          Early Retail
            Project              Institutional & Fintech
                                          Project
           2009-2017                 2018 - Present

  Exchanges & Retail Wallets   Prime Brokerage Stack
  Self Custody Solutions       Crypto-native Credit
  Payment Applications         Derivatives & Options
  Trading & Analytics          Investment Products
                               Crossover Fintech products

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Public companies purchase bitcoin as a part of
their reserve strategy
Public Company Bitcoin Purchases (Selection)

            1400
 Millions

            1200

            1000

            800

            600

            400

            200

              0
                   Microstrategy    Galaxy Digital            Square          Hut 8 Mining Corp Voyager Digital               Riot Blockchain
                                      Holdings                                                       LTD

                                                                  bitcoin purchase      present value

    We believe that bitcoin has the potential to be a more ubiquitous currency in the
    future. As it grows in adoption, we intend to learn and participate in a disciplined
    way. For a company that is building products based on a more inclusive future, this
    investment is a step on that journey.
                                                                                 - Square
 Source: Bitcointreasuries.org as of 12/7/20. Microstrategy includes recent raise of $400M to buy more bitcoin

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Increase in sophisticated investor tools like
futures points to maturing markets

§       The growth of bitcoin futures markets points to an increase in ability to hedge exposure, particularly for
        traders and miners who are very sensitive to price volatility. The more sophisticated tools in the bitcoin
        market, the greater capital inflows the markets can accommodate
§       CME, a highly-regulated exchange, saw all time highs for bitcoin futures open interest. The prominence of
        these onshore exchanges and growing liquidity supports the potential for a bitcoin ETF, as markets are
        heavily surveilled and considered to be reliable

    Source: Skew Analytics

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Growth of crypto-native credit reaches all time
highs
Active Loans of Genesis Global Trading

                                          § With an increase in
                                            crypto-native credit,
                                            market makers, funds
                                            and traders can seek
                                            out greater leverage
                                            with capital efficiencies
                                          § Providers like Genesis
                                            are quickly growing
                                            their active loans,
                                            leading to tighter
                                            spreads, greater
                                            convenience and
                                            capital efficiencies
                                          § Although crypto-credit
                                            markets are early, the
                                            growth supports the
                                            institutional
                                            acceleration of bitcoin

 Source: The Block

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    3

ETH & DeFi

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      An update on ETH 2.0
Ethereum Price & Fees, 2020
            20                                                                                                                                     600
 Millions

                                                                                                                                                   500
            15
                                                                                                                                                   400

            10                                                                                                                                     300

                                                                                                                                                   200
             5
                                                                                                                                                   100

             0                                                                                                                                   0
             1/1/20       2/1/20   3/1/20   4/1/20   5/1/20         6/1/20      7/1/20   8/1/20          9/1/20          10/1/20           11/1/20

                                                              Total Fees     Price

§           ETH 2.0 is in the transition phase to Proof of Stake, with the beacon chain launched, followed by the
            shard chains in 2021

§           With ETH 2.0 underway, the scaling conversation shifted to developments with rollups and other
            scaling solutions

§           Projects like Optimism, Matter Labs and other L2 scaling solutions gained momentum as the
            community looked for immediate scaling in the face of rising gas prices
             Source: CoinMetrics

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Ethereum’s investment case and ecosystem
matured since 2017

                2017                                      2020

               ICO Era                            DeFi Tokens Era
 §   Characterized by utility tokens     §   Characterized by well-defined
     with obscure means of value             tokens with traditional value capture
     creation                                mechanisms

 §   ICOs raised billions of dollars     §   DeFi validated bootstrapping on
     without any product in attempt to       Ethereum, with token distributions
     bootstrap and fund networks             creating user owned networks

 §   Market struggled to prove out the   §   Stablecoins and major financial
     NASDAQ 2.0 model at scale               platforms are predominantly
                                             secured by the Ethereum blockchain

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Ethereum & bitcoin daily settlement values
crossed briefly, as transactions grew
         Transaction Transfer Value (30-D Rolling Average)

                                                                               Bitcoin

                                                                             Ethereum

*Ethereum Settlement Value includes ETH and major ERC-20 Tokens
 Source: Digital Asset Data

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DeFi found early product market fit across
many categories, with TVL crossing $13B

                                  §     Lending and
                                        decentralized
                                        exchanges were the
                                        breakout DeFi
                                        categories of 2020
                                  §     Six protocols have over
                                        $1B in total value locked

                                  §     The ability to apply
                                        composability in new
                                        categories expanded as
                                        the “building blocks” of
                                        DeFi were established

                                  §     Rapid experimentation
                                        led to the rise of
                                        projects like Yearn.
                                        Finance, Curve and
                                        more

 Source: Digital Asset Data

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       DeFi Protocols                 vs Traditional Fintech

§ Assets move through open, secure       § Assets move through
  settlement networks that run 24/7        membership-based messaging
                                           networks that rely on extensive
§ Infrastructure is open source +          intermediation (limited hours,
  open liquidity                           high latency + manual error)

§ Protocols are global and agnostic      § Infrastructure is closed and
  to jurisdictional regulations à          proprietary
  compliance is handled at the
  application layer                      § High compliance burden

§ Startup costs are low                  § New entrants require licenses
                                           and/or partnerships with banks
§ Users own the services + capture
  value                                  § Corporations own the services +
                                           extract value from users

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The open source fintech stack

App Layer

Protocol Layer
                             Exchange             Lending            Derivatives          Insurance

Asset Layer                                 ERC20                                  ERC721
                                           Fungible Asset Standard           Non-Fungible Asset Standard

Settlement Layer
                   Native Protocol Asset
                           (ETH)

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What’s changed in 2020?

   Ownership     §   Ownership is distributed to users using mechanisms
                     like yield farming and liquidity mining to distribute
  Distribution       tokens

        User     §   User experience improvements lead to greater
                     adoption, from base protocol to aggregator layers
Improvements     §   Early protocols have been “battle-tested”

                 §   Protocol tokens launched with existing communities,
  Tokenomics         providing cash flows and governance rights
                 §   Distributed ownership tested on a larger scale

                 §   Composability realized as many “building blocks” were defined
   Innovative        across lending, exchange, stablecoins and more

   Landscape     §   The community experimented rapidly with liquidity mining,
                     forked protocols and token distribution methods

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Liquidity mining launched a new era of
community-based liquidity

          Protocol
           Project                      Users
                                        Users

   Token issuer or exchange   Users provide liquidity with
      provides rewards            idle crypto assets

     Bootstrap liquidity              Earn Yield
     Onboard new users        Participate in governance

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AMMs find product market fit, with Uniswap
surpassing Coinbase daily exchange volumes

        2017-18                                                                                              2020

                                            Average Daily Exchange Volume
                                                       Uniswap     Coinbase

                                                                                                          $680

                                                                                                                     $485 $473
                                     $379
                                                                 $321                      $333
                      $294                      $297
      $201                                                                    $223                 $211

                                                                                     $54
                                                            $1          $16

  Jan-20          Feb-20           Mar-20     Apr-20       May-20       Jun-20       Jul-20          Aug-20             Sep-20

Source: Dune, Digital Asset Data

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The DeFi token lifecycle evolved from ideation
to token maturity
1                            2                          3
     Ideation & Innovation            Issuance                           Maturity

                             Liquidity mining               Tokens are listed on
                             incentivizes growth and        centralized and
Composability allows for
                             user participation             decentralized exchanges
quicker product
innovation
                             AMMs provide a venue to        Protocols transition to
                             bootstrap networks with        partial or full community
Ability to fork and use
                             limited liquidity              governance models
open source standards
                             Liquidity providers play       Long term sustainability &
                             important role                 community development

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Risks compound across protocols and users,
new solutions are working to address
             Risks
                       The risk that there’s a bug that produces unintended consequences and potentially
      Technical Risk   losses for users

  Cascading Failures   The effects of the failure in one protocol would reverberate through other protocols

                       Governance rights could, in theory, also be used against the protocol (or, at least,
   Governance Risk     not in its best interests)

                       The value accrual method for these governance tokens is unproven and it is
  Governance Token     unknown to what extent these protocols/applications will be able to subsequently
               Risk    implement additional fees that accrue to governance holders

                       It’s not known if liquidity providers are being over- or under-compensated for
 Compensation Risk     bootstrapping liquidity – primarily because it’s not yet known to what extent this
                       subsidized activity will/can translate to strictly organic activity

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      4

Stablecoins &
   CBDCs

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   Stablecoins surged 500%, reaching a supply
   issuance of $23B
                    Stablecoin Supply Issuance                                    Stablecoin Rolling 30-day Average Settlement

           $25
Billions

           $20

           $15

           $10

               $5

               $0
                1/1/20           4/1/20        7/1/20        10/1/20

           §        There are currently $23 billion of stablecoins in circulation—compared to $31 billion PayPal dollars in
                    existence. Stablecoins are quickly growing to become one of the most used payment networks in the
                    world

           §        Stablecoin’s daily settlement value increased over 300% as DeFi and derivative markets experienced
                    substantial growth
           Source: Digital Asset Data

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Tether continues to dominate the market with
~80% market share

                                         Tether

Source: Digital Asset Data

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What changed in 2020?

     Derivatives    §   Accelerated usage of stablecoins as collateral in
        Growth          a rapidly growing derivatives market

                    §   Liquidity mining and defi growth caused stablecoins like
                        USDC and Dai to balloon in issuance
            DeFi    §   Users of defi continue to trade, collateralize and pay using
                        stablecoins

                    §   Macro conditions and COVID-19 increased demand
   USD Demand           for the US dollar, particularly in the spring; stablecoins
                        provided an avenue for exposure

       Exchange     §   Abundant global infrastructure and wallets make it
                        possible to handle surge in stablecoin issuance and
   Infrastructure       usage

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Stablecoin sector is building out new
infrastructure and use cases

                            Stablecoins

                   Stablecoin AMMs / DeFi Projects

       Infrastructure                      Payments / Remittances

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Stablecoins account for 40% of daily settlement
value on BTC and ETH
    Public Blockchains Are Dollarizing

 Source: Digital Asset Data

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 CBDCs around the world gain momentum
                                                                  ECB begins exploring
                                                                  CBDC, making a decision
                                                                  in Jan 2021

                                                                                                                       Japan exploring
                                                                                                                       CBDC seriously
Fed Powell says CBDC
    could improve US                                                                                                China tested
            Payments                                                                                                DCEP, with over
                                                                                                                    4M transactions
 Digital dollar project
           announced

            Bahamas launches Sand
                      Dollar CBDC

                                    Launched   Pilot   Research        Development          Cancelled
   Source: CBDC Tracker

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       5

Prime Brokerage

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36

Exchange volumes start to spike, Binance
remains market leader
Crypto Exchange Volumes

            Offshore exchange, Binance, continues to be the market
                   leader in global crypto exchange volumes
  Source: The Block

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Prime brokerage stack matures with fully
fledged offerings

   Staking   Custody   Execution   Lending                 Settlement

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Centralized finance preliminarily leans into
DeFi, but it remains early

                      FTX announced Serum, their own decentralized
                      exchange built on the Solana chain

                      Binance introduced a $100M fund to support
                      DeFi projects on Binance Smart Chain

                      Coinbase quickly listed DeFi tokens with
                      rumors of a token launching platform underway

                      Jump Capital backed Serum, and started
                      funding more DeFi startups through the DeFi
                      Alliance

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Impending M&A and IPO activity builds as
prime brokerage market consolidates

Acquirer          Acquisition           Suggested Value       Sub-Sector
Binance           CoinMarketCap         $400M                 Analytics / Retail
FTX Exchange      Blockfolio            $150M                 Retail
Coinbase          Tagomi                ~$75M                 Inst’l Prime Brokerage
                  Drawbridge Lending
Galaxy Digital                          Undisclosed           Lending / Inst’l
                  & Blue Fire Capital
DCG               Luno Wallet           Undisclosed           Retail
Voyager Digital   Circle Invest         Undisclosed           Retail
Genesis Trading   Vo1t                  Undisclosed           Custody
Coinbase          Xapo (Custody)        Undisclosed           Custody
                  Circle – OTC,
Kraken                                  Undisclosed           OTC / Trading
                  BitTrade
BitGo             Harbor                Undisclosed           Tokenization

    Market entering early M&A phase as the race to become a
                    prime broker accelerated

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    6

Regulation

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41

Regulatory landscape advances in key areas

               §   Key cases on token issuance decided: Telegram & Kik
       Token   §   The prototypical “2017 ICO” is officially dead
    Issuance   §   Federal judicial decisions provide template for token protocols
                   that are actually decentralized

               §   “Offshore” exchanges & markets, formerly considered
      Token        unregulated, face US civil and criminal actions

     Markets   §   Actions against bad actors open opportunities for *regulated*
                   market participants to move forward

      Global   §   Governments increasingly contemplate CBDCs and perhaps the
                   inevitability of private stablecoin solutions
     Outlook   §   India strikes down crypto ban, nations move to regulate crypto

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     Major regulatory events timeline
                                                                                 SEC grants no-action letter to
                                                                                  certain ATD Broker-Dealers
                                                                                           Sept 2020
                           SEC wins preliminary                                                                           SEC grants no-action
                       injunction against Telegram                                                                        letter to IMVU token
                                                          Abra settles with CFTC /     SEC wins summary
                                March 2020                                                                                       Nov 2020
               SEC continues                               SEC over digital asset    judgment against Kik
                 to reject                                     swap violation              Sept 2020
                Bitcoin ETF                                       Jul 2020
                 Mar 2020                      NYDFS grants                                          BitMEX charged
                                             BitLicense to ErisX                                      by CFTC, DOJ
                                                  May 2020                                               Oct 2020

January                                                      June                                                                                 December

                                                                    OCC grants banks
 Engigma settles with                                                 authority to                       John McAfee sued
 SEC over $45M ICO                                                   custody crypto                        by SEC for ICO
      Feb 2020                                                          Jul 2020                            Promotions
                  India Supreme                                                                               Oct 2020
                                                                           Salt Lending hit with cease-and-
                Court Strikes Down
                                                                                 desist over $47M ICO              Securitize gets SEC/FINRA
                    Crypto Ban
                                                                                       Sept 2020                   approval for digital assets
                      Mar 2020
                                                                                                                      ATS & Broker-Dealer
                                                                                                                            Oct 2020
                              SEC Commissioner Peirce
                             proposes token safe harbor
                                     April 2020
      TOKEN ISSUANCE

      TOKEN MARKETS

      OTHER

          Source: FinCEN, SEC, Blockchain Capital Analysis

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ICO regulation ultimately benefits non-token-
issuing industry service providers

§   Centralized issuers of tokens like Kik
    and Telegram conclusively disfavored
§   Federal courts reaffirm that (a) using    §   Providers servicing already
    token sale proceeds to develop                decentralized ecosystems (e.g., Bitcoin,
    network or protocol, and (b) issuing          Ethereum) have enjoyed greater
    tokens with no significant use case are       opportunities to work alongside
    both hallmarks of an investment               existing regulatory frameworks and
    contract                                      consolidate market share
§   However, tokens themselves post-
    issuance may not represent securities

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44

The rise of DeFi presents new regulatory
considerations for token issuance
Genuinely decentralized protocols can avoid the the ’Cardinal Sins’ of
token issuance:

     Using proceeds to            Promising increase          Promoting token
      build network                 in token value           secondary trading

DeFi’s remedy – literal decentralization
§ Protocols built / in use before token is issued

§ Tokens generated as compensation for protocol participation – not sold

§ Token value primarily resides in governing rights over the protocol

§ Users act as shareholders AND directors

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45

    Dark and manipulated markets receive US
    regulatory reckoning
Unregulated token market concerns long expressed by regulators…
    § Commodities markets, like BitMEX, are susceptible to market manipulation and conflicts of interest;
      no efforts to comply with US regulations, including KYC/AML requirements
    § Coin mixing services, like Helix, allow users to transfer value without knowing whether the “money”
      was used to facilitate or obfuscate criminal activity
    § CFTC and FinCEN finally took civil action; DOJ filed criminal charges

…result in enforcement

         BitMEX Action                     Criminal Liability                     Helix / Ninja Coin Action
§    “Bad Actor” designation        §   BitMEX: counts of violating and       §    Alleged to have flouted
                                        conspiracy to violate the BSA              regulations
§    Disgorgement
                                    §   Helix: unlicensed money trans. &      §    Alleged to have actively aided
§    Contract rescission
                                        conspiracy to launder money                cybercriminals
§    Restitution
                                    §   Founders indicted and arrested or     §    $60 million penalty (but could
§    Civil penalties                    “at large”                                 have been $210 million)

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46

Regulators begin to favor regulated and
“regulator-friendly” entities

Broker/Dealers get no-action letter
for simplified ATS execution of
digital asset securities

Regulated exchanges expand
market share and product offerings
on and offshore

Building blockchain analytics for law
enforcement and financial institutions

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47

Decentralization… the final frontier of digital
asset regulation?

Idyllic decentralized protocols are ‘Software, not a Service’

§   DeFi markets are properly enabled where decentralized users interact with
    each other via smart contract, not central intermediary

§   Smart contracts, critically, must be open source software and not subject to
    ongoing technical or governance control of developers

§   At minimum, developers should not have ability to “turn the protocol off”

§   By design, DeFi protocols should make protocol users also protocol
    governors

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48

The global conversation primarily revolves
around CBDCs and stablecoins
             Major Events                                          Stance

             China launches pilot of DCEP, their central bank      Pro-blockchain
             digital currency
   China                                                           Anti decentralized, censorship
             China launched their blockchain ecosystem, BSN        resistant technologies

 Hong Kong   SFC opens path for crypto exchanges to be regulated   Cautiously positive sentiment

             UK regulates crypto derivative products, announces
    UK                                                             Cautiously positive sentiment
             upcoming stablecoin guidance

             EU explores CBDC designs and stablecoin regulation,   Proactive stance acknowledges the
    EU       ECB pushes forward on a digital Euro                  future of digital currencies

   India     Supreme court strikes down crypto ban on banks        Cautiously positive sentiment

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      7

User Adoption

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50

Market adoption makes progress across key
segments

                              Governments

                                                                                           Mainstream
Fringe

                              Institutions

                              Retail Users

         2011   2019   2020                                                    2030+

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51

 Bitcoin’s perception and awareness remains
 high across U.S. adults
                Phase 1                                              Phase 2                                          Phase 3
                Learning                                            Conviction                                       Adoption

Awareness         Familiarity         Perception   Conviction Preference Rates Purchase Propensity               Owners / Users

   Source: Blockchain Capital Harris Poll Survey

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52

 38% of people expect bitcoin to exist longer
 than the euro – in strongly growing conviction
                Phase 1                                              Phase 2                                          Phase 3
                Learning                                            Conviction                                       Adoption

Awareness        Familiarity          Perception   Conviction Preference Rates Purchase Propensity               Owners / Users

   Source: Blockchain Capital Harris Poll Survey

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53

 Estimates suggest there are ~100M worldwide
 crypto users with major onramps incoming
               Phase 1                                                     Phase 2                                          Phase 3
               Learning                                                   Conviction                                       Adoption

Awareness       Familiarity       Perception        Conviction Preference Rates Purchase Propensity                    Owners / Users

                        Lower Bound Estimate of Total Crypto Asset Users & Accounts, In Millions
      250
                                                                                                  191
      200
                                                             139
      150
                                                                                                                101
      100
                          45                                              35
        50
                                      5
         0
                               2016                                2018                                 2020

                                       Total Number of Accounts           Total Number of Users

   Source: Cambridge Crypto Asset Benchmarking Report

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MetaMask adoption showcases Ethereum &
DeFi’s growing presence with 1M active users
        MetaMask Monthly Active Users

Source: Metamask

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55

Retail bitcoin interest filtering in through
fintech gateways
Google Search Trends

 120

 100

  80

  60

                                                                 § PayPal rolled out crypto buy-and-sell to
  40
                                                                   over 300M users

                                                                 § Square saw record bitcoin volumes and
  20                                                               revenues

                                                                 § eToro bolstered its crypto offerings with
   0                                                               staking rewards and asset expansion
         6

         7

         8

         9

         0
        15

        16

        17

        18

        19

                                                                 § SoFi received NYBitlicense, clearing the
      /1

      /1

      /1

      /1

      /2
     2/

     2/

     2/

     2/

     2/
    22

    22

    22

    22

    22
  /2

  /2

  /2

  /2

  /2
 5/

 5/

 5/

 5/

 5/

                                                                   way for crypto trading services
11

11

11

11

11

         Cash App Bitcoin   Robinhood Bitcoin   PayPal Bitcoin
                                                                 § Revolut turned on crypto services across
 Source: Google Search                                             the world
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      8

Looking Ahead

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57

Revisiting 2020’s Bold Predictions
  1.   A crypto company is acquired for more than $500m

  2.   Value locked in DeFi hits $5B

  3.   In the face of competition from China, Libra will receive the green light for a dollar-backed
       stablecoin

  4.   A federal judge rules against the SEC in a crypto case

  5.   Not a single 2020 L1 network launch achieves "top 10” status, as defined by network value

  6.   USDC sees 300%+ growth (as measured by transaction value, issuance, market cap
       and trading volume)
  7.   Demand for bitcoin transactions drives fees to exceed $100, catalyzing scaling up the stack

  8.   FinCEN / FATF hold stablecoins to a stricter standard than paper cash by requiring broad
       application of the travel rule

  9.   KYC / AML becomes the primary regulatory battleground for DeFi

  10. Privacy coins are de-listed from major exchanges

  11. Bitcoin price blows past all-time high

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2021’s Bold Predictions

 1.   Coinbase debuts as the first IPO in crypto, market cap surpasses $30B

 2.   Industry sees two acquisitions above $500M and one acquisition above $1B

 3.   USD-backed stablecoin market issuance (Tether, USDC, Libra) surpasses $150B+

 4.   The combined market cap of top 3 DeFi governance tokens increases from 33% to 66% of
      ETH’s market cap

 5.   Loans outstanding in DeFi protocols increases by 10x, surpassing $30B

 6.   33% of all crypto exchange spot volumes will come from DEXes

 7.   WeChat Pay and Alipay support China’s CBDC

 8.   SEC approves first BTC ETF and first *custodial* digital asset Broker-Dealer

 9.   Bitcoin market cap grows from 4% to 10% of gold’s market cap

 10. Microstrategy rebrands to Macrostrategy ;)

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59

        About Blockchain Capital

MANAGEMENT TEAM

                            Brad Stephens                                                     Bart Stephens                                            Spencer Bogart
                            Co-founder and                                                    Co-founder & Managing                                    General Partner
                            Managing Partner                                                  Partner

                            Stephens Inv. Mmgt                                                Stephens Inv. Mmgt                                       Needham & Company
                            Fidelity Ventures                                                 Ivanhoe Capital                                          ETF.com
                            CSFB Technology Group                                             E*TRADE Group                                            CFA

INVESTMENT TEAM                                                                                                         OPERATIONS TEAM

Ben Davenport     Jimmy Song       H. Joshua Rivera Kinjal Shah       Aleks Larsen       Derek Hsue    Shishi Feng      JoAnne Lauer   Zalia Aliriza     Lindsey Crawford Allie Spencer
Venture Partner   Bitcoin Fellow   General Counsel Senior Associate   Senior Associate   Associate     Data Scientist   Director of    CFO               Executive Assistant Office Manager
                                   and Chief                                                                            Investor                                             and Executive
                                   Compliance                                                                           Relations                                            Assistant
                                   Officer

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60

Disclaimer
THE INFORMATION PRESENTED IN THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN DEVELOPED INTERNALLY AND/OR OBTAINED FROM SOURCES BELIEVED TO BE RELIABLE; HOWEVER,
BLOCKCHAIN CAPITAL DOES NOT GUARANTEE THE ACCURACY, ADEQUACY OR COMPLETENESS OF SUCH INFORMATION. BLOCKCHAIN CAPITAL IS NOT UNDER ANY
OBLIGATION TO UPDATE OR KEEP CURRENT THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN. PREDICTIONS, OPINIONS, AND OTHER INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS ARTICLE
ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE CONTINUALLY AND WITHOUT NOTICE OF ANY KIND AND MAY NO LONGER BE TRUE AFTER THE DATE INDICATED. ANY FORWARD-LOOKING
STATEMENTS SPEAK ONLY AS OF THE DATE THEY ARE MADE AND ARE SUBJECT TO NUMEROUS ASSUMPTIONS, RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES, WHICH CHANGE OVER TIME.
ACTUAL RESULTS COULD DIFFER MATERIALLY FROM THOSE ANTICIPATED IN FORWARD-LOOKINGSTATEMENTS.

EXAMPLES OF PORTFOLIO COMPANIES ARE PURELY FOR ILLUSTRATIVE PURPOSES. THIS LIST IS ONLY PARTIAL, AND READERS SHOULD NOT ASSUME THAT THE
INVESTMENTS IDENTIFIED WERE OR WILL BE PROFITABLE OR ARE REPRESENTATIVE OF INVESTMENTS BY BLOCKCHAIN CAPITAL’S ADVISED FUNDS. THERE IS NO
GUARANTEE THAT ANY FUND WILL ACHIEVE THE SAME EXPOSURE TO, OR QUALITY OF, INVESTMENTS HELD BY ANY EXISTING FUND.

THIS MATERIAL IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO SELL OR THE SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO BUY ANY
SECURITY; IT IS NEITHER A PROSPECTUS NOR AN ADVERTISEMENT, AND NO OFFERING IS BEING MADE TO THE PUBLIC. RECIPIENTS OF THIS DOCUMENT ARE NOT TO
CONSTRUE IT AS INVESTMENT, LEGAL, OR TAX ADVICE AND IT IS NOT INTENDED TO PROVIDE THE BASIS FOR ANY EVALUATION OF ANY INVESTMENT. BLOCKCHAIN
CAPITAL DOES NOT PROVIDE INVESTMENT ADVICE TO INVESTORS AND NO COMMUNICATION, THROUGH THIS DOCUMENT OR IN ANY OTHER MEDIUM, SHOULD BE
CONSTRUED AS A RECOMMENDATION FOR ANY SECURITY. VENTURE INVESTING INVOLVES A HIGH DEGREE OF RISK AND IS SUITABLE ONLY FOR SOPHISTICATED AND
QUALIFIED ACCREDITED INVESTORS.

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Thank You

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