Gearing up for the holidays: Our 2024 gift guideThe holidays are just around the corner, which means it’s a great time to explore the latest gear and gadgets. Whether you’re looking for thoughtful gift ideas, planning a tech upgrade, or just trawling through seasonal sales, this guide offers a curated selection of products to consider, sourced from the a16z crypto team, which is passionate about technologies of all types.Just as we recommend what we’re reading every year, we’ve gathered 80+ personal recommendations — from computer accessories and smart AI-powered devices to beauty, health, and wellness products. Some repeat recommendations this season include Anker charging bricks, Oura rings, Steam Deck gaming consoles, coffee makers, and all manner of racing simulators.But there’s a lot more, ranging in price with options for all ages: from fidget toys and milk frothers to synthesizers and saunas.explore the guideHype vs. reality: Prediction marketsAlex Tabarrok, Scott Duke Kominers, and Sonal ChokshiThe premise — and promise — of prediction markets has been talked about for a long time, but they finally hit the main stage in the most recent election. So what worked (and didn’t) this time? Where do pollsters, superforecasters, domain experts, and journalists come in (or out)?Our latest podcast dives deep into all of the above, and it also explores:How, why, and where these markets work;The design challenges and opportunities, including implications for builders;Other information aggregation mechanisms;Interesting applications in AI, scientific replication, DeSci, futarchy/governance, and more in the near and distant future.Alex Tabarrok is a professor of economics at George Mason University and chair in economics at the Mercatus Center; and Scott Duke Kominers is a research partner at a16z crypto, and professor at Harvard Business School.ListenFor more on prediction markets, here are some of the resources and research mentioned in the episode:More news and updates…Changelog: Update on Jolt, our open source zkVMIn April, the a16z crypto research and engineering teams released an initial implementation of Jolt, the most performant zkVM. Since then, the Jolt team and open source contributors have made several improvements to Jolt’s performance and usability.We released three updates that continue to advance this tool: first, an update on improvements since April, especially in costs to the verifier; second, a video overview of Jolt’s development roadmap. Finally, a16z crypto Research Partner Justin Thaler wrote about “formal verification” for Jolt — that is, the effort to eliminate all bugs, and then prove that they’re gone. As Justin writes, “Today, zkVM toolchains are almost certainly full of bugs. We should stop pretending they’re not.”Stay tuned for more developments in 2025.Bonus watch: Justin speaking on privacy, cryptography, and all things zero knowledge at the recent DC Privacy Summit.Regulatory news and moves: At the SECThe United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas ruled that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) exceeded its statutory authority in adopting the new Dealer Rule. This decision is a significant victory for the crypto industry: The expanded rule could have potentially included participants in decentralized finance, especially liquidity providers in AMMs. (Blockchain Association)Eighteen Republican attorneys general also sued the SEC, arguing that the agency’s approach to digital assets and secondary markets is unlawful and violates the Administrative Procedures Act. In related news, SEC chair Gary Gensler announced that he will step down on January 20, 2025. (See our latest regulatory update for more.)…wormriding, in wyoming— a16z crypto editorial, research, and regulatory teams***The views expressed here are those of the individual AH Capital Management, L.L.C. (“a16z”) personnel quoted and are not the views of a16z or its affiliates. Certain information contained in here has been obtained from third-party sources, including from portfolio companies of funds managed by a16z. While taken from sources believed to be reliable, a16z has not independently verified such information and makes no representations about the current or enduring accuracy of the information or its appropriateness for a given situation. In addition, this content may include third-party advertisements; a16z has not reviewed such advertisements and does not endorse any advertising content contained therein.This content is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. You should consult your own advisers as to those matters. References to any securities or digital assets are for illustrative purposes only, and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. Furthermore, this content is not directed at nor intended for use by any investors or prospective investors, and may not under any circumstances be relied upon when making a decision to invest in any fund managed by a16z. (An offering to invest in an a16z fund will be made only by the private placement memorandum, subscription agreement, and other relevant documentation of any such fund and should be read in their entirety.) Any investments or portfolio companies mentioned, referred to, or described are not representative of all investments in vehicles managed by a16z, and there can be no assurance that the investments will be profitable or that other investments made in the future will have similar characteristics or results. A list of investments made by funds managed by Andreessen Horowitz (excluding investments for which the issuer has not provided permission for a16z to disclose publicly as well as unannounced investments in publicly traded digital assets) is available at https://a16z.com/investment-list/.Charts and graphs provided within are for informational purposes solely and should not be relied upon when making any investment decision. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The content speaks only as of the date indicated. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects, and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others. Please see https://a16z.com/disclosures/ for additional important information.
