Why doesn’t A16Z’s latest $15 billion venture fund include a dedicated crypto fund? Since 2018, A16Z has always invested in the crypto industry through specialized crypto venture funds: In 2018, Crypto Fund I was approximately $350 million, marking A16Z’s first dedicated crypto fund. In 2020, Crypto Fund II was around $515 million. In 2021, Crypto Fund III reached $2.2 billion. In 2022, Crypto Fund IV hit $4.5 billion, making it the largest crypto fund in history at the time. Since 2018, A16Z Crypto has raised four funds focused on cryptocurrency and Web3, with a total size exceeding $7.6 billion. But this time, within the $15 billion raised by A16Z: American Dynamism Fund ($1.176 billion), Applied Fund ($1.7 billion), Bio + Health Fund ($700 million), Infrastructure Fund ($1.7 billion), Growth Fund ($6.75 billion), and other venture strategies ($3 billion)—there’s no dedicated crypto fund. At the same time, in their open letter, A16Z defined crypto technology as one of the “key architectures of the future,” alongside AI. This suggests that in A16Z’s perspective, the crypto industry is no longer an independent “niche asset class” requiring separate fundraising. Since crypto has evolved into foundational technology like the internet or cloud computing, there’s no need to raise a massive standalone Crypto Fund IV (like the $4.5 billion fund in 2022). Instead, crypto projects are naturally integrated into the overall investment framework, deployed through funds like the Infrastructure Fund ($1.7 billion) and Growth Fund ($6.75 billion). Of course, A16Z’s crypto investment division still operates independently, led by @cdixon. This shows that crypto is maturing and gradually merging into mainstream industries. A16Z no longer needs a separate large fund to “prove their confidence in crypto.” Instead, they treat crypto as core infrastructure, like AI, embedded across all their funds to go all-in on America’s success. This is also why the announcement repeatedly emphasized “AI and crypto” side by side, but didn’t give crypto its own dedicated section.