"A new financial system is taking shape that runs continuously, settles nearly instantly, costs almost nothing, and is open to anyone with internet access," the firm stated in a blog post. "The founders we're backing with this $2.2 billion fund are working on the part of the cycle that gets less attention and produces more of the lasting value: turning new infrastructure into products people use every day."
In the post, Andreessen Horowitz pointed to what it sees as positive trends in the crypto industry, including demand for prediction markets and perpetual futures, and especially the continual rise of stablecoins.
“Trading volumes go up and down with the market, but stablecoin usage has kept climbing even through downturns,” the firm wrote. “People are using them to save, to send money across borders, and to pay for things, often exposing just how slow, expensive, and unreliable the alternatives are. Their growth looks less like speculation and more like network adoption: usage compounds because the technology is useful, not because of expectations about price action.”
The latest fund matches the size of a16z's third crypto fund raised in 2021 but falls short of its fourth fund's record $4.5 billion raised in 2022. The firm's crypto investment vehicles have grown substantially since its first $350 million fund in 2018, followed by a $515 million fund in 2020.
