What does Naval Ravikant think about Web3
A deep dive into the philosophy of Naval Ravikant, a celebrated entrepreneur, investor, and philosopher, on Web3. This guide covers his views on blockchains as a new form of money and markets, the importance of individual sovereignty, and his principles for building wealth and happiness in a decentralized world.
Introduction: The Angel Philosopher of Silicon Valley
Naval Ravikant is an entrepreneur, investor, and philosopher who has become one of the most respected and influential thinkers in technology and, by extension, Web3. As the co-founder of AngelList and an early investor in companies like Uber, Twitter, and Postmates, his insights on wealth creation, happiness, and technology are followed by millions.
While not a "crypto-native" in the same vein as some others, Naval's first-principles thinking provides a powerful philosophical framework for understanding the profound importance of Web3. He sees it not just as a new technology, but as a fundamental shift in how societies are organized—a move from top-down institutions to sovereign individuals coordinating through open networks.
This guide explores Naval Ravikant's core ideas on Web3, focusing on his views on blockchains as new forms of money and markets, the power of permissionless leverage, and the pursuit of individual sovereignty.
Core Thesis: Blockchains as Money and Markets
Naval's perspective on Web3 is rooted in a deep understanding of markets, leverage, and networks. He famously distilled the purpose of blockchain down to its two essential functions: blockchains are a new way to create money, and blockchains are a new way to create markets.
1. Blockchains as Money
Naval argues that for the first time in history, Bitcoin gave us a form of money that is not controlled by any state or corporation.
- Digital Scarcity: He emphasizes that Satoshi Nakamoto's breakthrough was solving the problem of "digital scarcity." Before Bitcoin, anything digital could be copied infinitely. Bitcoin created a digital asset that is provably scarce (only 21 million will ever exist), giving it the properties of a store of value, similar to gold.
- Separation of Money and State: Just as the printing press separated the church and state by decentralizing the production of information, Naval believes Bitcoin separates money and state by decentralizing the production of money. It provides an "exit" from government-controlled fiat currencies, which can be devalued through inflation.
2. Blockchains as Markets
Beyond money, Naval sees blockchains as a platform for creating new, open, and permissionless markets for anything of value.
- From Money to Any Asset: Ethereum generalized the concept of a blockchain. Instead of just a ledger for one asset (Bitcoin), it created a programmable ledger that could track the ownership of any asset (stocks, real estate, art, collectibles) in the form of tokens.
- Permissionless Capital Formation: He highlights that crypto enables anyone, anywhere, to raise capital for a new idea without asking for permission from gatekeepers like venture capitalists or banks. This is a massive unlock for global innovation.
- The Power of APIs: He often describes blockchains as "APIs with money." They are open, programmable platforms where developers can build new financial services (DeFi) or social networks that have their own integrated economies, owned and operated by their users.
Key Philosophical Themes
Naval's Web3 philosophy is interwoven with his broader views on life, wealth, and happiness.
1. The Power of Permissionless Leverage
A central theme in Naval's work is the concept of "leverage"—tools that amplify the impact of your actions. He identifies three types of leverage: labor (other people working for you), capital (money), and "products with no marginal cost of replication."
He argues that the ultimate form of modern leverage is code and media, and that Web3 provides a new, supercharged version of this.
- Code as Permissionless Capital: A smart contract is a piece of code that can control billions of dollars in assets without needing a company, an office, or employees. It is a financial robot that works for you 24/7.
- Tokens as Permissionless Equity: Launching a token allows a founder to grant ownership to a global community of users, developers, and supporters, aligning incentives and creating a powerful network effect. This is a form of capital leverage that was previously only available to accredited investors and VCs.
2. The Pursuit of Individual Sovereignty
For Naval, the ultimate promise of Web3 is increased individual sovereignty. He defines this as the ability to control your own life, your own assets, and your own destiny, without being dependent on or coerced by external institutions.
- Self-Custody as Freedom: The principle of "not your keys, not your coins" is central to this idea. By holding your own private keys, you have absolute control over your digital assets. No bank can freeze your account, and no government can confiscate your wealth without your consent.
- Exit as a Human Right: Like Balaji Srinivasan, Naval is a strong believer in the power of "exit." He sees Web3 as providing the tools for individuals to peacefully opt out of systems they disagree with and into new, voluntary networks that better reflect their values.
- A "Personal OS": He envisions a future where each individual has a "personal operating system" built on Web3 primitives: a self-sovereign identity, a crypto wallet for their assets, and decentralized storage for their data.
3. Blockchains vs. "Blockchain Technology"
Naval is careful to distinguish between blockchains (public, open, permissionless networks like Bitcoin and Ethereum) and what he calls "blockchain technology" (private, permissioned databases used by corporations).
He is deeply skeptical of corporate or "consortium" blockchains, arguing that they miss the entire point. For Naval, the value of a blockchain comes from its decentralization and its ability to create a neutral, open platform. A private blockchain is just a slow, inefficient database. He believes that true innovation will always happen on the public chains.
Conclusion: A First-Principles Thinker
Naval Ravikant's contribution to the Web3 discourse is not in day-to-day market commentary, but in providing a clear, philosophical, first-principles foundation for why this technology matters. He cuts through the hype and the jargon to explain the fundamental shifts that blockchains enable.
His framework is simple yet profound: Web3 is about creating new forms of money and new types of markets, both of which empower the individual. It is about leveraging code and networks to build wealth and create value in a permissionless way. And ultimately, it is about giving individuals the tools they need to achieve greater sovereignty over their own lives. For anyone seeking to understand the deep, underlying importance of the Web3 movement, Naval's work is an indispensable guide.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q1: Is Naval Ravikant a Bitcoin maximalist? A1: While he holds Bitcoin in extremely high regard as the ultimate store of value and the most important cryptocurrency, he is not a strict maximalist. He sees value in Ethereum and other platforms as well, particularly for their ability to create new, open markets for a wide range of assets through smart contracts.
Q2: What is Naval's most famous quote about crypto? A2: One of his most widely cited ideas is that "Blockchains will replace networks with markets." He argues that instead of networks controlled by single corporations (like Facebook or Uber), we will have open markets where participants can coordinate through protocols and tokens.
Q3: How does Naval view the role of venture capital in Web3? A3: While he is a venture capitalist himself, he has acknowledged the tension between the centralized nature of VC funding and the decentralized ethos of Web3. He believes that crypto democratizes venture capital, allowing projects to raise funds from their community directly. He has also been critical of VCs who use their influence to control protocols for their own benefit.
Q4: What is Naval's "Almanack"? A4: The Almanack of Naval Ravikant is a book, compiled by Eric Jorgenson, that curates Naval's wisdom from his tweets, essays, and podcast appearances. While not exclusively about Web3, it covers his core ideas on wealth, happiness, and philosophy, which form the basis of his thinking on crypto.
Q5: What is Naval's view on NFTs? A5: Naval sees NFTs as a key part of the "blockchains as markets" thesis. He views them as the technology that allows any unique digital item—art, music, game assets, domain names—to be verifiably owned and traded in an open market, a capability that did not exist before.
