Panel Discussion Between Morningstar Ventures and 6th Man Ventures.
Insights from Petr Martynov (Morningstar Ventures) and Carl Vogel (6th Man Ventures).
Introduction
Our 6th Panel Discussion brought together insights from Petr Martynov (Morningstar Ventures) and Carl Vogel (6th Man Ventures). The Discussion explores web3 investment thesis, the future of AI x Crypto and how to raise funds in this cycle.
What key trends and opportunities excites you in the Web3 VC landscape today?
Petr Martynov from (Morningstar Ventures):
“The crypto industry is ever-changing, making it both exciting and unpredictable. Our investment thesis remains strong—focusing on sustainable business models and products that attract mass adoption, whether games, apps, or middleware. With infrastructure now solid on networks like Solana and Base, our focus shifts to applications that bring users on-chain or enhance experiences for the existing crypto community. While adoption is crucial, there’s also great potential in refining user experience for crypto-native users. Overall, we prioritize powerful, sustainable applications that drive growth, whether for new entrants or seasoned traders, investors, and collectors.”
Carl Vogel from (6th Man Ventures):
“Blockchains have found product-market fit in trading, aligning with our thesis on the financialization of everything. Sports, social media, and information markets like Polymarket are engaging users through financial markets, while Pump dot Fund thrives on meme coins. Opinion markets let people trade on beliefs, fostering engagement and trust. Social trading is shifting to a multiplayer experience, and on-chain sports betting is expanding markets. The financialization of everything dominated 2024 and will continue winning in 2025”.
Thoughts on the AI-crypto intersection:
Petr Martynov from (Morningstar Ventures):
“Blockchain and AI are a natural fit. At SmartXR, we’ve explored this space since 2021, but it gained traction after ChatGPT’s rise in 2023. Blockchain offers security and verification for AI-generated content, while crypto enables AI agents to transact”.
The space is maturing, with AI transforming gaming, trading, and DeFi, enhancing user experience and interaction. AI agents have shown Web3’s potential in a fun, engaging way. We remain bullish on crypto and AI, and at Monix, we’re closely tracking its evolution.
Carl Vogel from (6th Man Ventures):
“99% of crypto and AI projects probably shouldn’t exist. Building in crypto is hard—there’s less liquidity and capital than in Web2. The key question is: why use crypto at all? It only makes sense when it offers something Web2 can’t, like aligning incentives across communities. Crypto has proven useful in narrow API layers, such as compute (Jensen, IONet, Akash) and data sourcing (Grass), and also makes sense for payments. However, general-purpose decentralized AI frameworks have mostly failed to deliver value. As generative AI floods the world with infinite content, blockchain can provide a shared ledger to verify authenticity, a space with real potential”.
The idea of individuals being able to own their data:
Petr Martynov from (Morningstar Ventures):
“The concept of users owning their data is amazing in theory, offering a fairer internet, potential revenue sharing, and easier data management. But in practice, it's unrealistic due to platform restrictions, device limitations, data aggregation issues, and other technological challenges. Privacy is also not an exciting topic for most users—while geeks and advanced users might care, casual users don’t prioritize data ownership. Unless the industry makes data ownership more appealing, it will be hard to drive adoption. The key issue is that data ownership lacks clear financial benefits. While the concept is great, without an attractive user experience, there’s no clear short-term solution”.
Carl Vogel from (6th Man Ventures):
“People have already given up their rights to their data, unknowingly signing it away whenever they use an app. While businesses handling sensitive data have reasons to prioritize privacy—such as compliance requirements or protecting proprietary information—this isn’t an urgent concern for the average consumer. Unless the impact of data privacy is directly visible, like how ad blockers improve the user experience, most people don’t see a strong reason to care or pay for it.”
Conclusion:
The conversation explored key trends in blockchain, AI, and the financialization of everything, emphasizing how trading remains the strongest product-market fit for crypto. The intersection of AI and blockchain was discussed, with differing views on its long-term viability—some seeing strong synergies in verification, compute, and incentives, while others remain skeptical of its broader impact. Data ownership was acknowledged as a great concept but not a pressing concern for most users. Finally, for aspiring Web3 investors, staying informed through analytical platforms, optimizing social feeds, and maintaining intellectual curiosity were highlighted as essential strategies for success.