Why venture giant a16z’s new crypto hub is in London

The U.K.’s ambition to become a crypto hub got a boost from venture capital giant a16z. [Pawel Libera / Getty Images]

There’s never a dull moment on the blockchain. Here’s what you need to know this week:

a16z is setting up shop in London. What the venture capital giant’s move could mean for the U.K.’s crypto ambitions.

Inflation cools, Fed pauses rate increases. How bitcoin traded in response to the week’s macroeconomic news.

The week in numbers. Unpacking Snoop's new NFT play, Vitalik Buterin’s pandemic-prevention fund, and more.

$104,180.03

$2,496.94

$1.00

$2.15

$143.08

$1.00

See the latest prices

LONDON CALLING

With regulatory uncertainty at home, a major U.S. crypto investor announces first foreign office

Crypto is global — and the increasingly unsettled regulatory landscape in the U.S. has at least one leading American crypto investor looking abroad. So, where might the next wave of innovation take hold? Some of the money appears to be on London, where the venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) is opening its first foreign outpost later this year — with a focus on crypto, blockchain, and Web3.

“London is a major financial hub, it’s a major tech hub and frankly it’s a very attractive place for people to live,” said a16z crypto leader Chris Dixon. “You just need to get it to a critical mass to really get it going.”

Here’s a closer look at a16z’s plan, what it could mean for the U.K.’s future as a global crypto hub, and what other locales could be competitors to London.

Silicon Valley-based a16z is one of crypto’s biggest investors, with $7.6 billion committed to crypto startups. (It’s also an investor in Coinbase, where co-founder Marc Andreessen sits on the board.) The London office will be led by partner Sriram Krishnan, and will also host a new branch of a16z’s Crypto Startup School, which is designed to spur innovation in the field.
U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is eager to support innovations like web3. In April 2022, Sunak, then serving as the country’s chancellor of the exchequer, announced plans to make the U.K. a global hub for crypto technology and investment. “While there’s still work to do, I’m determined to unlock opportunities for this technology and turn the U.K. into the world’s Web3 center,” Sunak said this week in response to a16z’s announcement.
Last week, the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority announced new regulations around crypto that will be implemented in October. “It is up to people to decide whether they buy crypto,” said Sheldon Mills, the FCA’s head of consumers and competition. “Our rules give people the time and the right risk warnings to make an informed choice.”
The U.K. isn’t the only region hoping to attract investment from the crypto industry. On June 1, Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission began accepting applications for crypto trading platform licenses and released new guidance for retail investors looking to trade BTC and ETH. On Twitter, one lawmaker welcomed “all global virtual asset trading operators” to apply.
The European Union has also recently bolstered its blockchain cred, passing the world’s most comprehensive set of crypto rules in April. As a result, according to an analyst at USDC issuer Circle, the share of global crypto VC investment in the EU surged from around 6% in the first quarter of 2022 to nearly 50% in the first quarter of 2023.

Why it matters… According to Fortune, a16z’s decision to expand to the U.K. “reflects just how dire the U.S. regulatory environment has become for crypto.” And while Dixon remains “long-term optimistic that the U.S. will get it right,” the firm was specifically attracted to the U.K. because of the nation’s emerging framework. Or as Dixon put it: “Our assessment is the U.K. is ahead of the curve and instituting [crypto] policies that will eventually become a global standard.”

Learn more about crypto policy

MARKET UPDATE

As inflation cools, Fed hits brakes on interest rates for first time in a year

Crypto traders had their eyes on macroeconomic news this week, with the release of the latest inflation report and the Federal Reserve meeting to discuss interest rates.

Here’s what you need to know.

Bitcoin rises, then falls after inflation report

Inflation in the U.S. has continued to fall, with May's reading indicating that prices for key consumer goods rose 0.1%, and 4% compared to last May. Immediately following the news on Tuesday, bitcoin rose about 1%, to $26,375, before falling back below $26,000. CPI releases often lead to volatility for BTC, but the leading cryptocurrency by market cap has been relatively calm as of late – it hasn’t made a 6% move in a single day for more than two months, its longest such streak since October 2020. While bitcoin was tepid after the data release, stocks rallied.

Federal Reserve pauses interest-rate hikes

With inflation cooling and a strong jobs report, the Federal Reserve finally took a breather this week, announcing Wednesday that it is holding interest rates at current levels after ten consecutive hikes over the last year. How did crypto markets respond? In the hours following the announcement BTC dipped slightly, breaking the $25,000 barrier for the first time since March as many traders seemed to anticipate a “hawkish pause” — meaning further rate hikes are likely to be issued down the road. ETH took a similar trajectory, falling to three-month lows around $1,600.

Learn more about inflation

NUMBERS TO KNOW

The number of technical transitions Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said are critical to the blockchain’s eventual ability to deliver an “open, global and permissionless experience to average users.” Buterin identified these three items in a recent blog post as the “L2 scaling transition;” the “wallet security transition,” and the “privacy transition.”

$42

The price of Snoop Dogg’s new NFT collection, which will be released in conjunction with his upcoming tour. The NFTs will grant holders access to behind-the-scenes content, exclusive merch, art, and experiences and will “evolve” with each stop on Snoop’s tour, which begins July 7.

48%

Bitcoin’s approximate percentage of crypto’s total market cap — it’s largest share in more than a year. Bitcoin’s dominance has risen recently as regulators in the U.S. have announced lawsuits against crypto firms, creating market uncertainty.

$100 million

The donation that Ethereum’s Buterin and Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal are making to help prevent future pandemics. “Covid and future pandemics are a global problem that requires a global solution,” Buterin said.

$500 million

The size of the market for tokenized U.S. Treasury bills. Using a variety of DeFi platforms, users can park stablecoins in short-term U.S. government bonds and earn interest, effectively creating a blockchain-based high-yield savings account.