As crypto cools, a16zcrypto raises a $2.2B fund - BERITAJA

In a blog station that lays retired a imagination for crypto’s future, ranging from a “new financial system” to warnings about “opaque” AI, a16zcrypto announced a caller $2.2 cardinal fund. This is the VC firm’s 5th money and brings the full raised to day to $9.8 billion, it says.

In addition, the money besides promoted its CTO, Eddy Lazzarin, to General Partner, bringing the GP investing squad to 4 people. Lazzarin joins Chris Dixon, Ali Yahya, and Guy Wuollet. The money has backed standout companies for illustration Coinbase, Kalshi, and Solana Foundation.

The timing of this news is simply a spot ironic, pinch crypto trading successful specified a slow play that Coinbase announced connected the aforesaid time it was laying disconnected 14% of its workforce. March was the slowest trading-volume period crossed crypto exchanges since November 2023, crypto information and news tract CoinGecko reported.

VC investing successful crypto startups has cooled, too, landing astatine about $5 cardinal successful the first 4th of 2026, compared to person to $6 cardinal successful the year-ago quarter, reports DLNews, citing stats from crypto information tract DefiLlama.

The a16zcrypto partners admit this. They picture really crypto highs tie successful finance and a fervor of startups, but that “we’re astatine 1 of those quieter moments now,” they write. However, they insist that overmuch of what gets built during a downtime “is usually much useful than it looked astatine the peak, and much durable than it looked astatine the trough.”

Hot marketplace aliases not, location is VC money retired location for blockchain-related startups that could woo VCs. The portion founders will person to flooded is that immoderate of the biggest crypto VCs are now being seduced by AI startups. This is an area swimming successful rising valuations.

For instance, Paradigm, 1 of the biggest and about prestigious crypto funds, is reportedly moving connected raising a caller $1.5 cardinal money to grow its thesis into robotics and AI, The Wall Street Journal reported successful February. Plus, Y Combinator, which has cranked retired many crypto and blockchain-related startups complete the years, didn’t inquire for immoderate successful its about caller “Requests for Startups” list.

Earlier this week, erstwhile Andreessen Horowitz investor Katie Haun announced that her crypto-focused firm, Haun, has besides raised a caller $1 cardinal fund and will proceed to put successful this market. But she’s besides looking for AI supplier tech arsenic it intersects pinch crypto/blockchain and fintech.

The latest a16zcrypto money will not beryllium lured distant by hotter markets, a spokesperson tells TechCrunch, promising that it will beryllium “dedicated 100% to crypto entrepreneurs.”