The Chief Technical Officer at one of the biggest and most influential venture capital firms active in the crypto and blockchain space wasn't pulling any punches when he decided to publicly criticize memecoins.

"Memecoins alter how the public, regulators, and entrepreneurs see crypto. At best, it looks like a risky casino. Or a series of false promises masking a casino," Eddy Lazzarin, CTO of Andreeson Horowitz VC fund a16z Crypto, said in one post to the social media platform X. "This deeply affects adoption, regulation/laws, and builder behavior. I see the damage every day. You should too."

It appears Lazzarin initially criticized memecoins in response to another post that suggested memecoins have been a source of intense frustration among builders in the crypto space.

"Seeing …