Andreessen Horowitz announced the close of a $2.2 billion crypto fund on Tuesday, its fifth dedicated to digital assets, as much of the broader venture capital industry redirects capital toward artificial intelligence.
The new fund, called Crypto Fund 5, will back founders at all stages over the next decade, according to a company spokesperson. With the addition of Crypto Fund 5, a16z has now amassed $9.8 billion in crypto capital across its five dedicated vehicles. By comparison, the previous fund closed at $4.5 billion in 2022, making the new raise less than half that size, Fortune reported.
The firm said it plans to focus on founders building practical applications on crypto infrastructure, with an emphasis on stablecoins, payments, financial services, lending, prediction markets, and tokenized assets. “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,” Chris Dixon, founder and managing partner of a16z crypto, and the fund’s general partners wrote in a blog post.
Along with the fund announcement, the firm said it promoted Eddy Lazzarin from CTO to general partner.
A spokesperson for a16z crypto declined to tell Fortune whether any capital from the new fund has been deployed. When asked whether a16z crypto would expand into AI as some peers have done, the spokesperson said the fund is “100% dedicated to investing in crypto entrepreneurs.”
The fundraise landed against a challenging market backdrop: as of Tuesday, Bitcoin was trading roughly 40% off its October high, with many smaller tokens down even further. Citing Galaxy Digital research, Bloomberg reported that growing institutional enthusiasm for AI has siphoned focus from crypto, and that the sector’s venture funds collectively pulled in only about $2 billion across 11 vehicles in the fourth quarter — a fraction of what the category attracted at its early-2022 apex.
A16z crypto’s partners framed the current environment as an opportunity. “We’re at one of those quieter moments now. And the signal coming through is one of the most encouraging it has been in years,” they wrote. A company spokesperson said the firm believes crypto fundamentals are “at an all-time high” even as sentiment remains subdued.
The raise puts a16z crypto among a small group of established firms still capable of attracting large pools of capital. Among the firms that have recently closed or are pursuing significant raises: Katie Haun’s Haun Ventures, whose founder previously served as a general partner at a16z crypto, wrapped up a $1 billion fundraise earlier this month. Dragonfly Capital pulled in $650 million for its fourth fund back in February, Fortune noted, while Bloomberg reported that Blockchain Capital is in the market for $700 million across new vehicles.
Past bets from a16z crypto’s portfolio include Coinbase, the largest U.S. crypto exchange, and Anchorage Digital, which provides custody services for digital assets.
