Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto (a16z crypto) arm has told limited partners it will rename itself a16z Frontier and invest beyond crypto.
The move comes five months after the firm called its $2.2 billion fifth fund “100% dedicated to investing in crypto entrepreneurs.”
Will a16z invest in AI?
When a16z crypto closed Fund 5 in May, a spokesperson for the company clarified that the $2.2 billion fund is “100% dedicated to investing in crypto entrepreneurs.” The company’s communications partner Paul Cafiero also said the money was “100% dedicated to investing in crypto entrepreneurs across all stages.”
Now, Andreessen Horowitz crypto arm has announced that it will be changing its name to a16z Frontier to accommodate a broader market.
Even before the announcement, a16z crypto was backing companies that aren’t related to the blockchain, including the prediction market Kalshi and Ornn, an AI compute marketplace.
a16z crypto is the biggest name in crypto venture capital. It has pulled in close to $10 billion across five funds since launching its first $350 million vehicle in 2018. The company’s fourth fund, which raised $4.5 billion during the 2022 bull market, is still the largest single crypto fund ever recorded.
What other crypto companies are pivoting?
a16z is not the first large crypto fund to expand into other sectors. Paradigm launched a $1.2 billion fund that invests in AI and robotics. Back in 2023, Paradigm quietly took out the crypto and Web3 language from its homepage, and its co-founder Matt Huang spent weeks insisting the firm had not dropped crypto. Meanwhile, reports of the company reaching into AI, robotics and other frontier technologies kept coming.
Haun Ventures, which was run by former a16z crypto general partner Katie Haun, raised $1 billion in May and said it would also back financial startups outside crypto.
a16z’s decision might partly be due to fading enthusiasm for crypto startups. DefiLlama data shows that venture funding into crypto startups fell to about $5 billion in the first quarter of 2026, down from roughly $6 billion a year earlier.
Notably, the company’s general partner Ali Yahya has told some investors he is leaving to build his own startup. He joined a16z in 2017 as the crypto team’s first full-time hire and was promoted to general partner in 2021.
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