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2025 BCVC Web3 Founder Survey
Introduction
Bloccelerate VC is a leading venture firm investing in category defining companies solving existential problems in the Web3 space since 2018. From day one, we embraced a research and data driven approach to analyzing the space and making investment decisions.
Over the past five years, we had the opportunity to meet with more than 5000 founders building crypto and blockchain products. We invested in over 30 companies and continue to deploy capital, as we speak.
While we found there is an abundance of data related to the general adoption of technology, what is missing is the deep understanding of what founders in the space deem as the most important priority and existential threat.
For that reason, we set out to drill into the minds of founders building products and services in this space. We collected, analyzed, and presented a proprietary set of data, comprising answers to a founder survey we ran from July through November of 2025.
The one question we ultimately wanted an answer to is “What do the founders deem as the most existential challenge facing the Web3 industry today?”
CEO Survey Description
This is the second annual survey Bloccelerate VC conducted. It has targeted founders, innovators, and entrepreneurs actively engaged in Web3 and blockchain-related projects. Thank you to all 100+ of you who participated and spread the word about this year's survey.
Survey Purpose: To gauge what Web3 CEOs deem as the most existential problems in the crypto space this year.
Survey Participants: 100+ Web3 CEOs & founders representing a broad spectrum of Web3 and blockchain projects, across North America, Europe, Middle East, and Asia Pacific Regions
Survey Questions: The survey covered 13 questions, meant to elicit both open-ended qualitative responses, as well as structured ranking responses
Survey Method: Responses to the survey reveal factual information (e.g. how many years have you been in the industry?), opinions (e.g. what is THE single most existential problem facing the space), and preferences (e.g. what help do you need most right now?)
Survey Respondents Stats
Survey Analysis By Company Stage
Survey Findings
TLDR
Distribution was voted as the most “existential” problem by concentration of votes. It is consistently the most pressing challenge across stages
Founders also ranked PMF and Scalability above other problems.
AI disruption, Regulatory Compliance, and Physical Security were viewed as opportunities or areas that were "not a problem."
Freeform Answers Consistently Reinforce Top Three Priorities*
We continue to see finding product-market fit and reaching users outside of the existing crypto audience as the most existential problems. Scaling, generating revenue, and achieving profitability are also a much greater focus than in the past
We saw a shift in the founder audience. There is less “pure infrastructure” representation in this survey (and the market) and a greater share of DeFi / Finance founders
Crypto founders across domains view AI disruption as an opportunity instead of an challenge or an existential threat
Founders finally have confidence that regulatory clarity will be achieved. Zero founders identified regulation as their biggest existential challenge, compared to 8% of founders in 2023
Founders pointed to market saturation and credibility issues as key challenges, describing an industry crowded with memecoins and hype-driven projects that make it hard to stand out. Several noted that noise in the market obscures real innovation, with one writing, “If we don’t execute, we risk being seen as just another NFT project.”
We continue to see finding product-market fit and reaching users outside of the existing crypto audience as the most existential problems. Scaling, generating revenue, and achieving profitability are also a much greater focus than in the past
We saw a shift in the founder audience. There is less “pure infrastructure” representation in this survey (and the market) and a greater share of DeFi / Finance founders
Crypto founders across domains view AI disruption as an opportunity instead of an challenge or an existential threat
Founders finally have confidence that regulatory clarity will be achieved. Zero founders identified regulation as their biggest existential challenge, compared to 8% of founders in 2023
Closing Thoughts
2023 has been a tumultuous year for the Web3 industry, wrought with macro headwinds, headlines of controversy, and regulatory crackdown. It is clear from this year’s founder survey that CEOs are persevering through the challenges and focusing on finding PMF.
There is more focus on “real use cases” this year, than before. Most “tourist” who were previously attracted to the hype have gotten out. Only the most committed builders - many of whom have gone through at least one other bear market - have stayed.
Thank you to all 100+ founders who participated in the second annual founder survey.
If you would like to participate in next year’s survey or request raw data, feel free to email survey@bloccelerate.vc and regularly check our website www.bloccelerate.vc
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