From its offices in Menlo Park, California, the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz has assisted in the huge growth of firms like Twitter and Coinbase for more than ten years.
The business unveiled a16z Crypto Fund’s London branch as its first location outside of the United States on Sunday. The decision was made in the midst of an atmosphere in the US that is becoming more unfriendly to cryptocurrencies, including a lawsuit filed on Tuesday by the Securities and Exchange Committee against Coinbase, a former portfolio company.
The Biden administration is really just attempting to kill off the technology, said Chris Dixon, the senior general partner at a16z and head of its cryptocurrency fund, in an interview.
As legislators, led by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, work to regulate the industry, the firm’s choice shows its trust in the U.K. as an up-and-coming crypto powerhouse.
According to Dixon, it merely has every component you would like to see in an up-and-coming tech center.
The office will be run by Sriram Krishnan, a general partner of a16z, and is expected to launch later this year. A $43 million investment in Gensyn, a cryptocurrency-meets-AI startup with headquarters in the UK, was revealed by the venture fund as part of the move. Dixon referred to the endeavor as “Airbnb for GPUs,” building a blockchain-based market place for businesses searching for processing capacity. Arweave, Aztec, and Improbable are just a few of the U.K.-based cryptocurrency businesses in which a16z has previously made investments.
The company also intends to collaborate with universities to create blockchain clubs and nurture talent for the cryptocurrency industry, including through its Crypto Startup School accelerator programme, which is designed to help business owners create Web3 firms. In the most recent round, there were almost 8,000 candidates and 26 firms that obtained funding and mentoring from a16z.
More importantly, a16z crypto sees the U.K. as a potential safe haven and a leader in the world for cryptocurrencies when opportunities in the U.S., at least temporarily, fade. In his capacity as finance minister, Sunak supported cryptocurrencies and blockchain, and other MPs, including MP Lisa Cameron, are pressing for regulation of digital assets.
Brian Quintenz, the head of policy at a16z crypto and a former commissioner at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, claimed that the U.K. is thinking about adopting a regulatory structure similar to a draught bill that the Republican chairs of the House Financial Services and Agriculture committees released about a week ago.
According to Quintenz in an interview, they are considering this as an investment in the U.K. with the proper regulatory approach that guarantees a high standard of client protection—but that embraces decentralization.
Quintenz said that a16z crypto hopes to steer discussions, including working closely with 10 Downing Street. The U.K. is still debating how to approach regulation; in mid-May, the parliament’s Treasury committee suggested that crypto trading should be treated as a form of gambling instead of as a financial service.
As we solidify the U.K.’s position as a science and technology superpower, we must embrace fresh ideas like Web3, which is powered by blockchain technology and will allow start-ups to flourish here and boost the economy, Sunak said in a statement. Andreessen Horowitz, a global leader in investing, has chosen to establish their first foreign office in the United Kingdom, and for this reason he is happy.
Dixon emphasized that a16z is still a U.S. company despite the growth. He was upbeat that lawmakers would reconsider the necessity for crypto regulation, as they did with early internet legislation, and he cited the fact that online business was illegal until Congress passed several laws in the 1990s.
He asserted that the [crypto] sector will endure. He believes the U.S. will eventually make the right decision.
