a16z partner Chris Dixon says no portfolio projects will be allowed to sell tokens to the public

Chris Dixon, a partner at a16z, defended his investment philosophy and the company's investments on the Hard Fork podcast of The New York Times. In the interview, he defended Helium by stating that "no participating company will be allowed to sell tokens to the public."

However, the media questioned Dixon's statement by reviewing a16z's investment portfolio. The media mentioned that DFINITY's ICP tokens have been distributed to those who "donated" to the DFINITY Foundation; the failed algorithmic stablecoin protocol Fei sold FEI tokens and TRIBE governance tokens in its genesis event; and the developer behind Axie Infinity, Sky Mavis, sold AXS tokens on Binance Launchpad.

The report stated that Dixon apparently does not consider NFTs to be tokens, as several companies invested in by a16z have sold NFTs to retailers, including VeeFriends, the company Gary Vee uses to sell NFTs, and Yuga Labs, which also sold NFTs to the public.