Andreessen Horowitz Seeking $4.5B to Invest in New Crypto Projects

Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, also known as a16z, is planning to raise up to $4.5 billion for crypto-related investments, per the Financial Times. 

The firm reportedly aims to put $3.5 billion of said funds into its latest crypto fund, while the remaining $1 billion will be reserved for a separate fund focused on seed investments in startups across the digital assets space. 

According to an individual described by the FT as being “briefed on the discussions,” the firm plans to finalize these funds by March of this year. The firm itself declined to comment. 

Andreessen Horowitz on crypto

It's only January, but this is not the first time the venture capital firm has made crypto headlines in 2022.

Earlier this month, a16z called for “targeted” regulations aimed at decentralized finance (DeFi), stablecoins, and the burgeoning Web3 industry. 

“Treating all digital assets in the same way is analogous to having a single legal regime to cover stocks, real estate, cars, art, watches, and trading cards,” the firm said in a recently published report. 

The report also said that “decentralized finance technologies already handle hundreds of billions in transaction volume every day and provide compelling evidence that there is a pathway for instantaneous, global, 24/7 financial rails.” 

Stablecoins were also singled out as a “basic building block on which this financial innovation is occurring.” 

In November last year, Andreessen Horowitz led a $50 million investment round in Ethereum’s Layer-2 developer, Matter Labs. 

One month earlier, two veterans of the venture capital firm announced a new $110 million fund that aims to invest in the so-called ownership economy. 

The fund, Variant Fund II, backs teams that use tokens to incentivize projects from industries ranging from gaming to art and music.