Share this article
Andreessen Horowitz Says Crypto Can Shift Power Away From Big Internet Companies: Report
Months after it established a $4.5 billion crypto fund, the venture capital firm also said it sees the crypto market slump as an investment opportunity.
Updated May 11, 2023, 6:54 p.m. Published Aug 23, 2022, 9:39 a.m.
Chris Dixon, the founder of Andreessen Horowitz's (a16z) crypto arm, said the venture capital firm sees Web3 and cryptocurrencies as having the ability to disrupt the power imbalance created by big internet companies such as Facebook (META) and Twitter (TWTR).
In an interview on FT's Tech Tonic podcast, Dixon said that power on the internet is currently held by a small group of companies.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
"I don’t think this is a good outcome," Dixon said. "The idea of having the internet controlled by five companies is very bad for entrepreneurs and bad for VCs.”
Since the start of the crypto arm in 2018, a16z has raised more than $7.6 billion to invest in crypto and blockchain companies. That includes its fourth crypto fund, established in May with $4.5 billion even as the market tumbled. Bitcoin has fallen from last November's record high of $69,000 to as low as $17,000 in June.
Dixon said he views the slide as a chance to make more investments: “In venture capital, you’re hopefully buying low and selling high ... so my experience has been downturns have been opportunities.”
Several leading names in traditional finance are beginning to use blockchain technology on a daily basis. On Monday, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. (DTCC), which processes all trades in the U.S. stock market, said it is handling hundreds of thousands of settlement transactions a day on its private Project Ion blockchain, while French bank BNP Paribas is using JPMorgan's blockchain network, Onyx.
Blockchain technology offers safeguards by writing rules of code into a smart contract, Dixon said.
“What we can do to create a better internet is create new systems where the network effects accrue to the community instead of to companies.”
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Turkey's Paribu Buys CoinMENA in $240M Deal, Expanding Into High-Growth Crypto Markets
With the acquisition, Paribu gains regulatory foothold in Bahrain and Dubai and access to the region's fast-growing crypto user base.
What to know:
- Paribu acquires Bahrain- and Dubai-based CoinMENA for up to $240 million.
- Deal marks Turkey’s biggest fintech acquisition and first international crypto M&A, the firm said.
- The move taps into the MENA region’s fast-growing crypto user base and supportive regulatory hubs.
Top Stories
