TechFlow News, May 5: According to The Block, Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto-focused arm, a16z crypto, has closed its $2.2 billion fifth fund. This fund is smaller than its record-breaking $4.5 billion fourth fund raised in 2022. Paul Cafiero, Communications Partner at a16z crypto, stated the firm intentionally returned to a smaller fund size because “a shorter fundraising cycle enables us to keep pace with evolving crypto trends.” Prior fund sizes include: $2.2 billion for its third fund in 2021; $515 million for its second fund in 2020; and $350 million for its inaugural fund in 2018.
a16z crypto also announced the promotion of CTO Eddy Lazzarin to General Partner (GP), joining Chris Dixon, Ali Yahya, and Guy Wuollet as the firm’s fourth GP.
a16z crypto noted that although the market is currently in a relatively quiet phase, adoption signals are improving. It highlighted continued growth in stablecoin usage and increasingly broad applications of blockchain in capital markets—including perpetual contracts for price discovery, prediction markets for information aggregation, and on-chain lending for stablecoin credit markets. The firm cited the GENIUS Act as an example of a clearer regulatory framework and expressed “hope and optimism” regarding the passage of the Clarity Act this year. This fund will be 100% dedicated to crypto investments and will not expand into adjacent areas such as AI or robotics.
Prior investments by a16z crypto include Coinbase, Uniswap, Solana, Kalshi, Anchorage Digital, and Phantom. Other crypto-focused VCs have also been active recently: Haun Ventures closed its $1 billion second fund earlier this week; Dragonfly recently closed its $650 million fourth fund; Paradigm is reportedly seeking up to $1.5 billion for a broader fund; and Blockchain Capital is raising approximately $700 million.
