Andreessen Horowitz accomplice Marc Andreessen
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LONDON — Andreessen Horowitz is opening its first workplace outdoors of the U.S. in London, the enterprise capital agency introduced Monday.
Andreessen Horowitz, a Silicon Valley enterprise capital agency that has backed main tech firms from Airbnb to Coinbase, stated it was seeking to reap the benefits of what it sees as a extra welcoming surroundings for crypto entrepreneurs within the U.Okay. The agency believes that the U.Okay. will turn into a worldwide chief in crypto, blockchain and digital currencies.
The U.S. has been cracking down on the crypto trade recently, with the Securities and Exchange Commission saying lawsuits in opposition to crypto titans Binance and Coinbase final week. Essentially, the SEC is arguing that many crypto tokens ought to be labeled as securities, which might topic them to a lot stricter oversight and transparency necessities.
The U.Okay. earlier this yea additionally proposed its first formal laws of the crypto trade, in search of to clamp down on practices within the trade within the wake of the collapse of FTX, a crypto trade as soon as price $32 billion. Many crypto buyers say this would offer extra readability, significantly as they’re dealing with heightened uncertainty within the U.S.
“The prime minister’s leadership is critical, but we have seen a wonderful openness to the promise of the technology, as well as a strong interest in whatever regulatory regime comes online, focusing on consumer protection,” Brian Quintenz, head of coverage at Andreessen Horowitz, informed CNBC in an interview.
“Frankly I don’t think this current administration in United States is doing either — it’s a moment in a time when the U.K. acts nimbly and quickly, but robustly.”
Sriram Krishnan, an ex-Twitter worker who joined Andreessen Horowitz as a normal accomplice, will relocate to London to move up the agency’s workplace there, Quintenz stated.
Andreessen Horowitz additionally plans to launch its first crypto startup college within the U.Okay. in a bid to establish future expertise within the crypto and Web3 area. The agency launched a faculty to educate entrepreneurs on constructing blockchain and cryptocurrency firms in 2019.
Andreessen Horowitz has been probably the most energetic buyers in crypto and Web3, backing startups starting from the crypto-based sports activities collectibles buying and selling sport Dapper Labs to nonfungible token market OpenSea.
But it has felt the chilling results of a downturn often known as “crypto winter” previously 18 months, following main collapses just like the spectacular chapter of FTX. (Andreessen was not an investor, however a number of rival companies, together with Sequoia, had been.)
The agency’s dedication to open a presence within the U.Okay. suggests long-term perception within the crypto market, a minimum of outdoors the U.S.
“In terms of the United States, there is tremendous uncertainty here — that’s a kind word — there’s plenty of opportunity to create more uncertainty, that has not been embraced,” Quintenz informed CNBC.
“We’re seeing regulation by enforcement that does nothing to understand benefits of the technology or embrace entrepreneurs innovators trying to build next iteration.”
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Source: www.cnbc.com”