A16z Crypto Raises $2 Billion Fund Amid Market Downturn

Crypto venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz is doubling down on crypto despite a major market downturn, seeking $2 billion for a new crypto fund.

A16z Crypto, the blockchain arm of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, is raising a fifth crypto-focused fund, with plans to close by mid-2026, Fortune reported on Wednesday, citing anonymous sources.

The latest round is significantly smaller than its previous $4.5 billion fund from 2022, but the company has shifted to a shorter fundraising cycle to remain flexible to ever-changing crypto narratives. 

The move comes amid a crypto bear market that has seen more than $2 trillion wiped from total market capitalization since its peak of around $4.4 trillion in early October.

A16z crypto chief Chris Dixon’s Web3 philosophy envisioned a decentralized internet with applications built on blockchains, according to his 2024 book, “Read Write Own.”

But many of those investments have not panned out, notably decentralized X (Twitter) competitor Farcaster, which returned $180 million to investors after selling off its infrastructure in January. 

Crypto VCs exploring non-crypto tech

Wall Street crypto buffs have lately narrowed their focus to stablecoins, real-world asset tokenization, and financial products, with many venture capitalists following suit. Others have started to look towards other areas of technology.

Co-founder of venture firm Multicoin Capital, Kyle Samani, stepped down in February to “explore new areas of technology,” such as AI, longevity, and robotics. 

Crypto venture firm Paradigm is reportedly expanding into artificial intelligence and robotics with its latest fund seeking to raise $1.5 billion. 

Related: Crypto slides, but tokenized RWAs and VC push ahead

A16z raised over $15 billion in January to invest in companies and technologies it deemed critical to secure America’s future, mentioning AI and crypto and including technologies in “key areas that generate human flourishing,” such as biology, health, defense, public safety, education, and entertainment.

A16z sees opportunity in AI, crypto in 2026

A16z recently highlighted crypto and AI as major themes for 2026, stating that it expected AI to automate cybersecurity work, AI models to become app stores, privacy to become the “most important moat in crypto,” prediction markets to get “bigger, broader, and smarter,” and stablecoins to become more intertwined with traditional banking and finance. 

According to DeFiLlama’s fundraising aggregator, crypto startups raised $895 million in February, down almost 40% from the $1.47 billion raised the previous month and marginally less than the $1 billion raised in February 2025. 

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