Chris Dixon Announces Launch of $300 Million A16Z Crypto Fund
California based venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz has announced the launch of a16z crypto, a $300 million crypto investment fund. The announcement was made by Chris Dixon on June 25, 2018. He will lead the fund along with Katie Haun, the first ever woman GP at a16z, who has a legal background and led the investigations into Mt. Gox hack and Silk Road. Over the next two to three years, the company will invest in promising cryptocurrency startups. The investments could potentially range from seed investing, series funding, growth fund in companies and even directly buying cryptocurrencies or tokens.
Dixon said that the firm will adopt a patient approach for its investment and not be swayed by temporary price fluctuations. He recognized that the crypto industry is going through a bear phase, which he referred to as ‘crypto winter’. Dixon told CNBC,
We’ve experienced ups and downs in the cryptocurrency market, and expect there will be many more. There’s potential in the technology, and some of the downturns can be the best investments.
Andreessen Horowitz will keep investing aggressively in the crypto industry with a horizon of 10 years for the fund irrespective of price corrections.
Andreessen Horowitz first made its investment in the crypto industry through Coinbase in 2013. Since then, it has also invested in Ripple. The firm is yet to liquidate any of those early investments and has a hawkish stance on investing in the crypto industry. Ben Horowitz, co-founder and General Partner of Andreessen Horowitz praised Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies while addressing audience at Columbia Business School in 2017.
The a16z crypto fund has significance for the entire crypto industry because most of the fund will be provided to entrepreneurs using blockchain to build products. Other funds that have been announced for the industry are designed to work as hedge funds. Such funds profit merely by trading cryptocurrencies and do not contribute to strengthening the fundamentals of the industry. While a16z is a reputed name in venture capital investing, it remains to be seen how its journey in crypto investing will go.
