Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto arm, A16z Crypto, has raised $2.2 billion for its fifth devoted crypto fund — a big increase by enterprise requirements, however a notably smaller one for the agency.
Its earlier fund, introduced in 2022, pulled in $4.5 billion, then the biggest particular person crypto fund ever raised.
That automobile arrived amid the collapse of TerraUSD, which worn out tens of billions in worth virtually in a single day, and simply months earlier than the implosion of FTX.
A extra disciplined pitch
The brand new fund can be led by managing associate Chris Dixon alongside basic companions Ali Yahya, Man Wuollet, and Eddy Lazzarin, the agency’s CTO, who’s being promoted to basic associate.
In a weblog put up shared forward of the announcement, the companions pointed to stablecoins, tokenization, perpetual futures, prediction markets, and AI brokers as crypto’s most promising funding areas.
The companions wrote:
“The founders we’re backing with this $2.2 billion fund are engaged on the a part of the cycle that will get much less consideration and produces extra of the lasting worth: turning new infrastructure into merchandise folks use daily.”
Infrastructure over hypothesis
The agency’s thesis facilities on crypto merchandise which have discovered actual markets relatively than speculative narratives.
Stablecoins are more and more used for cross-border funds, greenback financial savings, and settlement.
On the capital markets facet, perpetual futures are rising as a brand new venue for worth discovery, whereas tokenization has develop into one of many few crypto improvements Wall Road has been prepared to embrace.
The regulatory backdrop has additionally shifted significantly since 2022, with the trade now working below the GENIUS Act, the primary main federal stablecoin regulation.
Competitors heating up
The fundraise comes as competitors amongst crypto’s prime traders intensifies.
Katie Haun, a former Andreessen Horowitz basic associate, introduced $1 billion for brand new funds centered on crypto and AI brokers — underscoring how the trade’s main traders are converging on the identical themes.