a16z crypto

a16z crypto is a California-based venture capital fund from Andreessen Horowitz announced on June 25th, 2018. The fund is dedicated to investing in cryptocurrency companies and protocols. The team includes Chris Dixon, Ali Yahya, Hilary Kivitz, Jesse Walden, Denis Nazarov, Corban Bell, and Katie Haun. Katie Haun left the fund in 2021 in favor of launching her own venture firm focused on cryptocurrency and Web3.

The fund was specifically founded to bring together a crypto-native team to offer greater specialization in support of the companies and projects the fund invests in and to help projects in the design of protocols and mechanisms. Further, the fund focuses on the behaviors their portfolio companies expect from cryptocurrency investors, including staking, delegating, running nodes, actively participating in governance, and designing mechanisms.

The fund also includes experts in marketing, public relations, policy, regulatory affairs, recruiting, and general startup management to help portfolio companies communicate their products and help introduce them to the mainstream.

The crypto fund aims to invest in companies and protocols at all stages, from seed-stage pre-launch projects to fully developed later-stage networks like Bitcoin and Ethereum. The firm said it "plans to hold investments for over 10 years." Their stated plan is to invest consistently over time, even in the event of a "crypto winter."

The fund's investment thesis is based on the belief that cryptocurrency is still in its earliest stages, and there is a large potential for growth going forward. This is as the space is seeing rapid development with much of the code, data, and knowledge being largely open source and because the space is seeing an inflow of talent. Further, a16z Crypto sees cryptocurrency as software, and the firm is a believer in the power of software.

The following are the pinnacles of a16z Crypto's investment thesis:

• The fund invests in all areas of crypto, including infrastructure, new layer 1s, DeFi, NFTs, gaming, DAOs, social tokens, decentralized social networks, Web3 apps, and new ideas as they emerge.
• The fund is a long-term patient investor, structured as a venture fund in order to have a committed capital base and expecting to hold investments over the long term.
• They have "all weather" funds that invest consistently over time, regardless of market conditions. Regardless of market cycles and fluctuations, the focus continues to be innovation in crypto.
• The fund is flexible with respect to stage, asset type, and geography, investing at all stages and investing in traditional financial instruments as well as new instruments, such as the direct purchase of tokens.
• The fund also provides operational support to portfolio companies.