a16z crypto raises $2.2B as firm bets on stablecoins, AI agents, and tokenized markets
Andreessen Horowitz raised $2.2 billion for its fifth crypto fund, giving one of Silicon Valley’s most aggressive blockchain investors fresh capital to back startups building crypto infrastructure and consumer products.
The new vehicle, Crypto Fund 5, brings a16z crypto’s dedicated investment vehicles to nearly $9.8 billion. The fund matches the size of a16z’s third crypto fund from 2021 but is smaller than its record $4.5 billion fund raised in 2022, which was split between $1.5 billion for seed investments and $3 billion for later stage opportunities.
a16z said the new fund is aimed at founders turning crypto infrastructure into everyday products. The firm pointed to stablecoins, perpetual futures, prediction markets, onchain lending, tokenized real world assets, and AI agents as areas where blockchain networks are moving beyond speculation and into practical use cases.
Stablecoins were central to the firm’s pitch. a16z said their use has continued to grow through market downturns as people use digital dollars to save, send money across borders, and make payments. The firm framed that growth as a sign of network adoption rather than simple price speculation.
The raise extends a multicycle crypto strategy that began before the last major bull market. a16z crypto launched its first dedicated fund in 2018, followed by a $515 million second fund in 2020 focused on crypto and blockchain startups. That second fund backed companies while also holding some crypto assets, with the firm describing the strategy as venture investing rather than active token trading.
The firm then raised $2.2 billion for its third crypto fund in 2021 before closing a record $4.5 billion fourth fund in 2022, the largest venture capital fund dedicated to web3 startups and projects at the time.
a16z crypto has backed major industry companies and protocols including Coinbase, Solana, Uniswap, and Kalshi. The firm’s broader crypto thesis now appears focused on the parts of the market that survived the last cycle: dollar backed payments, always on trading venues, tokenized assets, and infrastructure for software agents that can transact online.
