As crypto cools, a16zcrypto raises a $2.2B fund

In a blog post that lays out a vision for crypto’s future, ranging from a “new financial system” to warnings about “opaque” AI, a16zcrypto announced a new $2.2 billion fund. This is the VC firm’s fifth fund and brings the total raised to date to $9.8 billion, it says. In addition, the fund also promoted its CTO, Eddy Lazzarin, to General Partner, bringing the GP investing team to four people. Lazzarin joins Chris Dixon, Ali Yahya, and Guy Wuollet. The fund has backed standout companies like Coinbase, Kalshi, and Solana Foundation. The timing of this news is a bit ironic, with crypto trading in such a slow period that Coinbase announced on the same day it was laying off 14% of its workforce . March was the slowest trading-volume month across crypto exchanges since November 2023, crypto data and news site CoinGecko reported. VC investing in crypto startups has cooled, too, landing at nearly $5 billion in the first quarter of 2026, compared to closer to $6 billion in the year-ago quarter, reports DLNews , citing stats from crypto data site DefiLlama. The a16zcrypto partners acknowledge this. They describe how crypto highs draw in investment and a fervor of startups, but that “we’re at one of those quieter moments now,” they write. …