Andreessen Horowitz closes $4.5 billion crypto fund amid market turmoil

Even though crypto markets appear to be on a long, arduous path ahead based on recent weeks of token turmoil, venture investors looking to get their hands on a Web3 future aren't slowing down.

On Wednesday, venture capital giant, a16z, announced closing its fourth cryptocurrency fund at $4.5 billion. This brings the total money invested by Andreessen Horowitz in digital currency and blockchain business to more than $7.6 billion.

The new investment vehicle will focus on early-stage ideas as well as projects that are more mature and have already shown some traction. According to the firm, $1.5 billion of the funding will be used for seed injections, while $3 billion will be dedicated to venture investments.

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Despite the current market downtown, the firm is optimistic about discovering fresh prospects. Marc Andreessen, the co-founder of a16z, commented that cryptocurrencies are still in their "early innings," adding that the market has a lot of growth potential.

The fourth crypto fund has been in the works for some time; Cointelegraph first reported on it in January. It doubles the size of the previous crypto fund and demonstrates the growing interest among the firm's limited partners in boosting their exposure to cryptocurrency firms.

The new funding has come less than a year since Andreessen Horowitz announced the launch of its $2.2 billion Crypto Fund III. A16z's dominance has made waves in the crypto industry throughout recent months, with several crypto native companies like Paradigm and Electric Capital raising enormous sums to compete against it.

Related: $3B flows to metaverse and Web3 gaming this month as a16z tips in $600M

Formerly known for investments in Instagram and Slack, the firm first entered the crypto sector with an investment in Coinbase in 2013. It has since backed a number of crypto businesses, including Polychain Capital, OpenSea, Solana (SOL), Avalanche (AVAX) and Yuga Labs.