‘FTX made the whole industry look silly:’ Australian investors downplay crypto enthusiasm

“There has never been a more exciting time to start a crypto project,” one partner, John Henderson, wrote at the time.

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AirTree declined requests for an interview. A spokeswoman for the group said Airtree had followed through with its investment intentions for the Web3 sector. “AirTree’s approach is to make selective early-stage investments in companies with large potential and then be able to provide follow-on capital to the top performers,” the spokeswoman said. “Web3 is no different, and so far we’ve made six early-stage investments in the sector and one follow-on investment.”

She pointed to the February post, which cautioned that “We’re ready for our investments to look silly before they look smart.”

“FTX made the whole industry look silly,” the spokeswoman said. “Like everyone else, we were shocked and disappointed when it unravelled. But FTX’s failure was the result of human misconduct, not technological shortcomings. So, while it is certainly a big setback, we do not think it heralds the demise of the sector and retain our conviction that blockchain technology will be a key driver of innovation over the next decade.”

She said AirTree was not capping its Web3 investments at 5 per cent of its funds, but had instead provided guidance on the subject that could change.

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