Morning Minute: a16z Raises $15B, Targets AI & Crypto – Decrypt

Morning Minute is a each day e-newsletter written by Tyler Warner. The evaluation and opinions expressed are his personal and don't essentially replicate these of Decrypt. Subscribe to the Morning Minute on Substack.GM!In the present day’s prime information:
Crypto majors flat over the weekend; BTC at $90,600
XMR jumps to $600 in a single day and new ATH, up 33% on week
Jerome Powell releases message claiming costs are as a consequence of his not complying with Trump, gold+silver spike
a16z raises $15M throughout funds to spend money on America’s future, AI & crypto at forefront
X pronounces plans for Sensible Cashtags, exhibiting dwell charts together with tickers
💰 a16z Reloads With $15B, Targets AI & Cryptoa16z is again with its greatest fundraise ever.And crypto is on the forefront.📌 What HappenedAndreessen Horowitz (a16z) introduced it raised over $15B throughout a number of new funds, one of many largest VC fundraises in years.Per a16z’s personal breakdown, the increase contains: Progress ($6.75B), Apps ($1.7B), Infrastructure ($1.7B), American Dynamism ($1.176B), Bio + Well being ($700M), plus $3B in different methods.For historic context, a16z has been a prime crypto allocator for years, elevating devoted automobiles together with:
$300M for its first crypto fund (2018)
$515M Crypto Fund II (2020)
$2.2B Crypto Fund III (2021)
$4.5B Crypto Fund IV (2022), together with $1.5B seed + $3B enterprise
A few of their notable investments throughout that point embody Coinbase, Solana, Uniswap, OpenSea, and Phantom, plus newer offers like Kalshi and EigenLayer.🗣️ What They’re Saying“Because the American chief in enterprise capital, the destiny of latest know-how in the USA rests partly on our shoulders. Our mission is making certain that America wins the following 100 years of know-how.” – Ben Horowitz, a16z cofounder🧠 Why It MattersIt’s attention-grabbing to take a peek below the hood right here to see what a16z is investing in, to get a glimpse of their view of the longer term:
AI infrastructure: a16z is leaning into compute, tooling, and platform layers that can energy the following decade of software program
“American Dynamism”: protection, housing, provide chains, and different “nationwide curiosity” classes
Infrastructure + Apps: the picks-and-shovels layer that may survive a number of market cycles (and usually captures worth even when narratives rotate).
For crypto particularly, it’s:
extra stablecoin and funds rails
extra tokenized belongings and settlement
extra infrastructure that may onboard establishments
extra crypto x AI convergence
It might be a bit “boring,” however that’s doubtless an apt method to talk about this subsequent section of crypto. We’re arrange for a boring maturity section.Stablecoin adoption, tokenized asset adoption and extra institutional infrastructure.The most important wildcard is how crypto and AI will converge and what funding alternatives will come up from it. We will likely be watching intently…🌎 Macro Crypto and MarketsA few headlines that stood out:
Crypto majors are principally flat headed into Monday open; BTC even at $90,600; ETH +1% at $3,110, SOL +2% at $140; XRP -2% to $2.04
IP (+20%) and XMR (+15%) led prime movers; XMR hit a brand new ATH at $590
Fed Chair Jerome Powell launched a video message claiming that the prison costs he faces are as a consequence of his not chopping rates of interest according to Trump’s needs
X (Twitter) introduced plans for “Sensible Cashtags” to indicate crypto and inventory costs dwell subsequent to tickers
VanEck projected Bitcoin may attain $53M by 2050, outlining long-term adoption, commerce settlement and store-of-value assumptions driving 29% annual development
Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) raised $15B to fund American Dynanism, with AI and crypto on the forefront
Ripple obtained FCA approval to scale crypto funds within the UK
BNY Mellon debuted tokenized deposits for institutional and digital-native purchasers
A brand new Home invoice would bar lawmakers and federal officers from utilizing prediction markets
Tether froze $182M in USDT linked to Venezuela oil trades
In Company Treasuries / ETFs
The BTC ETFs noticed one other $250M in internet outflows on Friday, now with 4 straight days of outflows
In Memes / Onchain Movers
Meme majors had been principally purple; Doge -3%, Shiba -3%, PEPE -2%, Bonk -2%, Pengu -2%, WIF -3% and Fartcoin -4%
Testicle was a prime mover onchain, leaping 20% to $20M; Ralph Wiggum (+125%), SPSC (+45%) and SOL (+23%) led different notable onchain movers
💰 Token, Airdrop & Protocol Tracker
Pump Enjoyable teased adjustments to their creator payment sharing, altering coin creation incentives
Infinex closed their ICO with 44% oversubscription
Trove accomplished its ICO with $11.5M raised, and an extension that went dwell then was walked again; TGE will happen on Jan twentieth
Rekt Drinks’ World Star Cherry Cola sale goes dwell as we speak at 1 pm ET
Rain introduced a $250M increase at $1.95B valuation to increase its stablecoin service
🚚 What is going on in NFTs?
NFT leaders had been barely inexperienced over the weekend; Punks even at 28.8 ETH, Pudgy -1% at 4.83 ETH, and BAYC +1% at 5.38 ETH; Hypurr -3% to 514 HYPE
Good Vibes Membership (+26%), Real Undead (+28%) and Chimpers (+28%) led prime movers
A Spirit Azuki offered for 28 ETH ($87,500)
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