Marc Andreessen
Co-founder of a16z and Netscape
The Problem
On Joe Rogan Experience #2234, Marc Andreessen discussed the deepfake crisis and proposed a solution:
“I think we have a theory on how to fix this and the theory basically is we’re going to have to switch our sense of what’s real from basically just trying to eyeball it and figure out whether it’s real to only taking seriously the things that we know are real.”
“The way that we would know things are real is we’ll have them registered on a blockchain.”
“Every politician will have an account on a blockchain service… whenever they put out a statement they’re cryptographically sign it on the blockchain so that it can be validated that it is actually content from them.”
“We’re just going to have to write off everything else that we see.”
Joe Rogan: “So that would be the solution to deep fakes — the blockchain?”
Marc Andreessen: “Yeah, you flip it. You flip it. You focus on the real stuff.”
Watch the full segment (1:21:06)
This is exactly what I’m building.
ATL Protocol takes this concept further:
- Merkle trees batch thousands of records into a single cryptographic structure
- Bitcoin anchoring provides independent, decentralized proof of existence
- Consistency proofs guarantee the entire history is intact — not just individual entries
The result: mathematically verifiable proof that data existed at a specific time and hasn’t been modified — without trusting the operator.
Video Layer: FrameLock
Marc’s vision focuses on verifying statements and content from known sources. But what about verifying video of real-world events?
FrameLock is a concept for optical video verification — point your phone at a screen, get cryptographic proof in seconds. It’s designed to work on top of ATL Protocol.
My Response
I reached out to Marc on Twitter:
“@pmarca JRE #2234: ‘registered on a blockchain… cryptographically sign it so it can be validated’
Built it. ATL Protocol — Merkle trees + Bitcoin anchoring. Proof that history is intact, verifiable by anyone. In production.”
“Video layer on top: FrameLock. Point phone at screen, get proof in 3 seconds. Designed, needs funding to build.”