The Big Whale: In a matter of days, the SEC has made several decisions penalizing the staking business and the stablecoin industry. What do you think about this?

Frank Desvignes : It is not so surprising. You have to realize that we are only a few months after the FTX scandal, which is, let's not forget, an American player. So the American stock market regulator wants to get tougher.

But more fundamentally, what is happening in the United States shows how important it is to have regulation. In the absence of clear rules, it is the policeman who defines them as he goes along, and there is no legal certainty.

These events are a huge opportunity for Europe. Many complain about MiCA, and there are indeed some issues, but overall the European ecosystem will have clear rules.

Couldn't other regions of the world also benefit from this? Asia and the Middle East come to mind...

Yes, of course. True Global Ventures is a special fund because we are decentralized. The founders (about 15 of them) are spread around the world, which gives us good visibility of the global market, and indeed things are happening outside North America and Europe.

Asia is very dynamic. There is a huge appetite for NFTs. In South Korea, there is a strong appetite for anything metaverse. A bit like in the Middle East. The Sandbox, in which we are investors, has just signed a partnership with Saudi Arabia. Things are moving!‍

Speaking of high-speed trains, how is the fund doing? Hasn't it been too complicated these last few months?

At the risk of shocking you, we are doing well. For us, there are many opportunities. With the market downturn, some investors who probably took too many risks are in trouble and will be forced to divest. And I'm not even talking about those who had investments in companies like FTX... For us, this is an opportunity to position ourselves. There is no shortage of opportunities.

What files are you thinking about?

I would not give good ideas to my competitors, but there are some! Beyond these kinds of projects, there will also be consolidation in the sector around a few big players like Animoca Brands (in which TGV is an investor, editor's note) who are in good shape (big stakes in The Sandbox, Yuga Labs, etc.).

Animoca raised before the markets went down and they will be able to deploy money. This is one of the big winners of 2022.

How do we avoid bad investments?‍

At TGV, our approach is quite simple: we only invest in experienced entrepreneurs, in people who have been through crises, through complicated times. In other words, you won't see us investing in a Sam Bankman-Fried (the founder of FTX, editor's note).

The other point is that we tend to invest in "late stage" (when companies are quite mature, editor's note). In our last fund, we made 80% in late stage, which is much less risky. For example, we put $30 million into Animoca Brands, and we have other investments in the pipeline.

What are the main trends you are betting on?

Clearly decentralization. Projects like MakerDAO (read our survey) and Bitcoin will matter a lot in 2023. These are projects that will win this year because governance is decentralized and no one can put Satoshi Nakamoto in jail.

The other very interesting theme is all that is decentralized data storage.

What about DeFi?

I think it is still quite complex in terms of use.

What is the main challenge for a Web3 fund right now?

The main challenge is to educate.

Didn't the last few months penalize the sector too much?

The scandals have had an impact, but they also take out the bad actors and ask the right questions, especially about the security and management of cryptos. In the short term, it's negative, but in the long term, it's positive.