While the most recent wave of hype from the cryptocurrency market appears to be waning after a spectacular surge, Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto arm is reaffirming its commitment to startups building blockchain projects with a huge new crypto fund of 2,200 million dollars.
It’s the firm’s largest specific vertical fund so far, by far.
Andreessen Horowitz’s 2018 crypto fund ushered in $ 300 million in LP commitments and his second fund, which closed in April last year, posted $ 515 million. The new multi-million dollar fund not only shows how institutional backers are becoming more comfortable with cryptocurrencies, but also how Andreessen Horowitz’s assets under management have grown rapidly to compete with other wealthy firms, including the ever-prolific Tiger Global.
With this announcement, Andreessen now manages assets worth $ 18.8 billion.
LPs are likely to be much less cautious about taking risks on cryptocurrencies after Andreessen Horowitz’s stake in Coinbase equaled about $ 11.2 billion at the time of the first direct trading, although the shares they have declined 30% in recent months as the cryptocurrency market has done so. shrunken.
Some of the company’s other major crypto bets include NBA Top Shot maker Dapper Labs, which reached a valuation of $ 7.5 billion this spring. Blockchain infrastructure startup Dfinity raised a valuation of $ 9.5 billion last September. Last year, the firm led Uniswap Series A, which is poised to be a major player in the Ethereum ecosystem. In addition to equity investments, a16z has also made significant bets on the currencies themselves.
A previous Newcomer report last month reported that a16z was targeting a $ 2 billion crypto fund and that they had already dumped some of their cryptocurrency holdings before most cryptocurrencies plummeted in recent weeks.
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Crypto Fund III will continue to be managed by GPs Chris Dixon and Katie Haun, but the company has also started to develop a stronger management team around the crypto vertical.
Anthony Albanese, who joined the firm last year from the NYSE, has been named the division’s chief operating officer. Tomicah Tillemann, who previously served as Senior Advisor to President Joe Biden and as President of the Global Blockchain Business Council, will be the Global Policy Director for a16z Crypto. Rachael Horwitz Also Joins As Lead Marketing & Communications Operating Partner For A16z Crypto; him leaving Google after a stint as Coinbase’s first vice president of communications.
A couple more people are also coming in in an advisory capacity, including businessman Alex Price and a couple of others who will likely be a bit helpful in regulatory maneuvering, including Bill Hinman, a former SEC member, and Brent McIntosh, who recently served as undersecretary. of the Treasury of International Affairs.
The new $ 2.2B fund of a16z will not only bet on the future of cryptocurrencies, but will defend it.
Andreessen Horowitz just closed his second crypto fund
