On the VC private vs. public market arbitrage in crypto

Before Uniswap and other DEXes came on the market, the only way to buy a new crypto token was if a Centralized Exchange (CEX) like Coinbase listed it.

In the world of retail products and services, most exchange traditionally begins with an ask, followed by an expectation that some utility will be provided. In crypto, however, we see the reverse: mass issuance of a fractional promise, the utility of which is not fully defined at the outset, but progressively realized.

long as a token is exposed to markets, there will always be noise in its valuation. So why not just make it impossible to trade the token then?

This means crypto is democratizing access to otherwise private investment opportunities — I think this is pretty cool. But crypto projects still want access to VC capital and expertise. Good VC investors can provide a lot of value and help projects grow and succeed.