Bitcoin Will Usher in ‘Influencer Coins’ by 2030

Looking ahead to what we can expect by the new decade’s end, VC firm Andreessen Horowitz predicts that Bitcoin (BTC) is likely to be central to the monetization mechanisms that future online influencers will use.

In its Dec. 30 vignette of a highly automated future — where food is tailored to an individual’s microbiome and lifestyle in a “roboticized kitchen,” and VR and avatars are part and parcel of everyday business workflows — Andreessen Horowitz writes that by 2030:

“The influencer can reach hundreds of her fans instantaneously. In turn, the fans can get paid instantly for giving this feedback. They can choose to get paid in a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin or Libra, or they can choose to get paid in Influencer Coin.”

Andreessen Horowitz sees the role of private digital assets like its hypothetical “Influencer Coin” as being a way for online fans to secure a stake in an influencer’s rising popularity — similar to the way start-up employees participate in…