Andreessen Horowitz, a private American venture capital firm, has launched a $2.2 billion cryptocurrency fund. The company unveiled this news through an official announcement on June 24, saying this is its largest crypto-specific fund to date. Reportedly, this investment is based on the firm’s belief that the crypto sector will soon become influential like the internet.
According to the announcement, the Silicon Valley VC intends to inject these funds into crypto and blockchain startups.
Explaining the decision to bolster the company’s position in the crypto space, Andreessen general partners Chris Dixon, Katie Haun, and Ali Yahya said,
“We are radically optimistic about crypto’s potential to restore trust and enable new kinds of governance where communities collectively make important decisions about how networks evolve, what behaviours are permitted, and how economic benefits are distributed.”
The company, which is the largest shareholder in Coinbase Inc., a leading crypto exchange, added that this voluminous investment looks to tap into the vast potential of the crypto space. Andreessen Horowitz added that crypto will not only disrupt the finance sector but all aspects of life.
Making strategic appointments
To ensure its crypto business runs smoothly, Andreessen Horowitz has hired multiple people to occupy key positions in its crypto arm (a16z crypto). These include the former director of the US Securities Exchange Commission’s division of corporation finance, Bill Hinman, who will assume the role of an advisory partner.
Brent McIntosh, the former Under Secretary of the U.S. Treasury for International Affairs, who also coordinated the G7’s work on cryptocurrencies, has also joined the firm as an advisory partner. Alex Price, an investor, entrepreneur, and computer scientist, will also join the firm as an advisory partner.
Additionally, the company has employed Rachael Horwitz, the former head of communications at Twitter, Facebook, and Google. Reportedly, Horwitz will join the company as an operating partner.
Andreessen Horowitz has also secured the services of Tomicah Tillemann as its Global Head of Policy. Prior to this role, Tillemann worked in Washington, where he served US President Joe Biden as his officer of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He also served as Senior Advisor to the former Secretary of the State, Hillary Clinton.
This news comes after the company got into crypto in 2017 and launched its first crypto fund in 2017. Bullish on crypto, Andreessen Horowitz believes that although the crypto space to date has marked some significant milestones over the past decade, it is still in the early stages of its journey.
