Web3 is many things, including the subject of a Twitter food fight over whether it's the next Internet or just a niche financial technology.

Why it matters: There are billions of dollars at stake in being right, whether via investments in Web3 startups or in legacy companies.

On one side are skeptics, including Web2 luminaries like Box's Aaron Levie, Airbnb's Brian Chesky and (to some extent) Jack Dorsey.

• Their basic argument is that Web3 provides utility when it comes to financial applications, including payments and DeFi, because there is consensus on the units of value (dollars, euros, etc.). That's a giant total addressable market, but just a fraction of total internet software.
• Beyond that, they say, Web3 has yet to show there is much cause for user adoption. For example, what can the Web3 version of Airbnb or Box do that Airbnb or Box don't already do?
• Moreover, speculative trading frenzies around token rollouts often make it difficult to gauge product/market fit, corrupting a key part of the startup development timeline. Put another way: Are the early users more interested in the utility or in getting rich?
• "Certain VCs are oversimplifying the problem, particularly the protocol wars that end-users never had to care about before," Aaron Levie tells me. "You've obviously seen the infighting between Bitcoin and Ethereum, and now between Ethereum and Solana... Customer adoption becomes much harder when you have so much customer consensus building required."

On the other side are evangelists, like Andreessen Horowitz's Chris Dixon.

• They seem to view the Web 2.0 folks a bit like cloud computing advocates viewed on-premise stalwarts years ago, dinosaurs who refuse to see the visible meteors heading toward them.
• Obviously they believe the tech architecture will prove superior, particularly thanks personal data ownership/portability and the (at least theoretical) lack of central ownership.
• Sure valuations are sky-high, as evidenced by NFT marketplace raising $300 million at a $13 billion pre-money (it's also in talks to buy Dharma Labs, a digital wallet for cryptocurrencies, per Kia). But how different is that, Dixon argues on Twitter, from SaaS companies being valued on multiples of projected growth?
• "Some of what you'll see is a better way of doing existing things, like why thousands of photographers and other artists who've for years used Instagram are now joining with us," explains Kayvon Tehranian, founder and CEO of NFT auction startup Foundation Labs. "But it's also about a new cohort figuring out entirely new digital businesses."
• Tehranian, whose company arguably falls into the fintech exception, also downplays Levie's protocols concerns: "There has always been competition for standards ... The early days of the Internet was the Wild West. Eventually you start having winners and then you get scale."

The bottom line: There is still tons of work to be done before either side is proven right or wrong. But claims staked today will have tangible future impacts on those who make them.

IBM (NYSE: IBM) has resurrected its sale process for Watson Health, with hopes of fetching more than $1 billion, Axios' Sarah Pringle reports.

• Why it's the BFD: This is a white flag put up outside a burned-out building, as IBM spent more than $4 billion via acquisitions to build out the business. It's also a reflection of how Big Tech can struggle to with bold health care bets, which perhaps is why Oracle is going with an established business like Cerner.

• The bottom line: "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. A potential buyer of IBM Watson Health would want to make it profitable, which could mean private equity buys it and tears it to pieces." — Sarah Pringle

🐉 Miro, an S.F.-based virtual whiteboards platform for workplace collaboration, raised $400 million in Series C funding at a $17.5 billion post-money valuation from Iconiq, Accel, Atlassian, Dragoneer, GIC, Salesforce Ventures and TCV. http://axios.link/5nKD

🚑 Korro Bio, a Cambridge, Mass.-based RNA editing company, raised $116 million in Series B funding. Eventide Asset Management led, and was joined by Fidelity, Invus, Point72, Verition Fund Management, Monashee Investment Management, Sixty Degree Capital and insiders Atlas Venture, NEA, Wu Capital, Qiming Venture Partners USA, Surveyor Capital, Cormorant, MP Healthcare Venture Management and Alexandria Venture Investments. www.korrobio.com

🚑 SalioGen Therapeutics, a Cambridge, Mass.-based gene coding startup, raised $115 million in Series B funding. GordonMD Global Investments and EPIQ Capital Group co-led, and were joined by Fidelity, T. Rowe Price, D1 Capital Partners, SymBiosis, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and the Foundation Fighting Blindness. www.saliogen.com

• Atmosphere, a business-focused streaming TV service, raised $80 million in Series C equity funding (plus $20m in debt). Sageview Capital led, and was joined by Valor Equity Partners and S3 Ventures. http://axios.link/kQ3X

• Alto, a Nashville-based platform that lets individual investors add alternative assets to their IRAs, raised $40 million in Series B funding. Advance Venture Partners led, and was joined by insiders Unusual Ventures, Acrew Capital, Alpha Edison, Foundation Capital, Gaingels and Coinbase Ventures. http://axios.link/gg8y

🚑 mPharma, a Ghanaian health services startup, raised $30 million in Series D equity funding (plus $5m of debt) from JAM Fund, Unbound, Lux Capital, Northstar, Social Capital, Novastar and TO Ventures. http://axios.link/HsPP

• CellPoint Digital, a London-based provider of e-commerce and payment solutions, raised $25 million from Toscafund and its Penta Capital affiliate. www.cellpointdigital.com

• Ianacare, a Boston-based support platform for family caregivers, raised $12.1 million in Series A funding. Greycroft led, and was joined by 8VC, SemperVirensVC, Able Partners, Brown Alumni Group and insiders Slow, Founder Collective, Indicator Venture, Entrée Capital and Cue Ball. http://axios.link/oSPy

🚑 Protai, a proteomics startup, raised $8 million in seed funding co-led by Grove Ventures and Pitango HealthTech. http://axios.link/7emA

• ElasticRun, an Indian e-commerce enablement company focused on neighborhood stores, is in talks to raise around $200 million from firms like SoftBank and Goldman Sachs at a valuation north of $1 billion, per TechCrunch. http://axios.link/vRkK

• Ardurra Group, a Tampa, Fla.-based portfolio company of RTC Partners, acquired Gunda, a Houston-based transportation and public works civil engineering firm. www.ardurra.com

🚑 ChargePoint Technology, a British portfolio company of Arcline, acquired Terracon, a maker of single-use products for mixing, transferring and storing biopharma and life sciences fluids. www.thechargepoint.com

• Clearlake invested in Dodge Construction Network, a Hamilton, N.J.-based provider of data and other market intelligence to the commercial construction market. www.construction.com

• Corsair acquired a majority stake in Aurora Payments, a Tempe, Ariz.-based provider of payment solutions to SMBs, from Prudential Private Capital. www.risewithaurora.com

• EagleTree Capital acquired Andronaco Industries, a Kentwood, Mich.-based maker of flow control products. www.andronaco.com

• Fenix Parts, a Hurst, Texas-based portfolio company of Stellex Capital Management, acquired the assets of Keiffer Auto Recyclers, a Canton, Ohio-based auto recycling facility. www.fenixparts.com

• Fractal, an Indian data analytics company backed by Apax Partners, raised $360 million from TPG at a valuation north of $1 billion. http://axios.link/wIvg

• Recorded Future, a Boston-based enterprise cybersecurity portfolio company of Insight Partners, acquired SecurityTrails, an LA-based attack surface monitoring startup, for $65 million. http://axios.link/XFDQ

• Smartly.io, a Helsinki-based ad tech automation company owned by Providence Equity Partners, acquired Ad-Lib.io, a London-based creative management platform, for more than $100 million. Ad-Lib.io had raised $12 million in Series A funding, led by Fog City Capital. http://axios.link/cXBW

• Tilley-Phoenix Group, a Palmyra, N.J.-based specialty ingredients distributor owned by SK Capital Partners, bought smaller Walpole, Mass.-based rival Callahan Chemical Co. www.calchem.com

🚑 TPG invested in Confluent Medical Technologies, a Fremont, Calif.-based medical device contract manufacturer backed by Ampersand Capital Partners (which retains a minority stake). www.confluentmedical.com

• Trexon, a Macedonia, Ohio-based portfolio company of Audax Private Equity, acquired Power Connector, Bohemia, N.Y.-based provider of tactical communications solutions for military applications. www.trexonglobal.com

• Westbrook, the entertainment production company founded by Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, sold a minority stake to the Blackstone-backed media company led by former Disney executives Tom Staggs and Kevin Mayer.

• Per Axios' Sara Fischer: "Celebrity and athlete production studios are becoming a hot target for acquisitions, as streamers look to bolster their content offerings."

🚑 WindRose Health Investors bought Terrapin Pharmacy, an Annapolis, Md.-based closed-door pharmacy focused on patients with mental illness, substance abuse disorders or intellectual and developmental disabilities. www.terrapinpharmacy.com

Correction: 3G Capital, not 3i Group, is the buyer for Dutch window coverings maker Hunter Douglas, which is going private for around $7.1 billion. Apologies for the error.

🚑 Affinia Therapeutics, a Waltham, Mass.-based gene therapy startup, filed for an IPO. It plans to list on the Nasdaq (AFTX) and raised $179 million from firms like NEA (20.5% pre-IPO stake), Atlas Venture (13%), F-Prime Capital Partners (9.9%) and Lonza (8.6%). http://axios.link/s3v8

• Specialty Building Products, a Duluth, Ga.-based residential building products distributor bought just three months ago by The Jordan Co., filed for an IPO. It plans to list on the Nasdaq (SBP). http://axios.link/LghQ

• Trajector, a Newberry, Fla.-based provider of disability benefit eligibility software, withdrew its October 2021 IPO registration. http://axios.link/ARVE

• 1.12 Acquisition, a tech and finance SPAC formed by Bridgeport Partners, withdrew its March 2021 registration for a $350 million IPO. http://axios.link/QM6a

⚡ Aethon Energy Management is seeking a buyer for its acreage in North Louisiana, which could fetch around $6 billion, per Reuters. http://axios.link/U4tV

• Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) acquired Siemplify, an Israeli enterprise cybersecurity company, for $500 million. Siemplify had raised nearly $60 million from firms like Georgian Partners, 83North, G20 Ventures, Jump Capital, Capria Ventures, Abundance Partners and Capri Ventures. http://axios.link/ZONE

• ServiceTitan, an LA-based provider of software for tradespeople valued last year by VCs at $9.5 billion, bought FieldRoutes, a McKinney, Texas-based provider of business management software for pest control and other tradespeople, from Gryphon Investors. www.fieldroutes.com

⚽ Sport Republic, an investment firm led by Dragan Šolak, bought the Southampton Football Club from Gao Jisheng. http://axios.link/ntid

• WonderFi Technologies agreed to buy the parent company of Canadian crypto marketplace Bitbuy for around C$206 million. http://axios.link/17lk

• Refinery Ventures of Cincinnati raised $36 million for its second fund. http://axios.link/ZhQ6

• Matt Jones joined TPG as co-managing partner of its GP Solutions unit, alongside Michael Woolhouse. He previously co-led global secondaries for Pantheon. http://axios.link/JtZM

• Eileen Naughton, former chief people officer at Google, joined the board of Ares Management (NYSE: ARES). www.aresmgmt.com

• Benjamin Saunders is joining Bank of America as a managing director of banking sector investment banking, per Bloomberg. He previously was with JPMorgan Chase. http://axios.link/5Di3

• March Capital promoted Julia Klein, Solomon Hailu, Hyun Koo and Louis Gresham to partners. www.marchcp.com

• Silversmith Capital Partners promoted Rafael Urdaneta to CFO. www.smilversmith.com

• Stellex Capital Management promoted Trey Lee to managing director. http://axios.link/Q0Wk

Thought bubble: If Web3 evangelists are right, then tracking "crypto" investments could eventually become antiquated, much as we no longer track "internet" investments.