In a blog post that lays out a vision for crypto’s future, ranging from a “new financial system” to warnings about “opaque” AI, a16zcrypto announced a new $2.2 billion fund. This is the VC firm’s fifth fund and brings the total raised to date to $9.8 billion, it says.
In addition, the fund also promoted its CTO, Eddy Lazzarin, to General Partner, bringing the GP investing team to four people. Lazzarin joins Chris Dixon, Ali Yahya, and Guy Wuollet. The fund has backed standout companies like Coinbase, Kalshi, and Solana Foundation.
The timing of this news is a bit ironic, with crypto trading in such a slow period that Coinbase announced on the same day it was laying off 14% of its workforce. March was the slowest trading-volume month across crypto exchanges since November 2023, crypto data and news site CoinGecko reported.
VC investing in crypto startups has cooled, too, landing at nearly $5 billion in the first quarter of 2026, compared to closer to $6 billion in the year-ago quarter, reports DLNews, citing stats from crypto data site DefiLlama.
The a16zcrypto partners acknowledge this. They describe how crypto highs draw in investment and a fervor of startups, but that “we’re at one of those quieter moments now,” they write. However, they insist that much of what gets built during a downtime “is usually more useful than it looked at the peak, and more durable than it looked at the trough.”
Hot market or not, there is VC money out there for blockchain-related startups that can woo VCs. The part founders will have to overcome is that some of the biggest crypto VCs are now being seduced by AI startups. This is an area swimming in rising valuations.
For instance, Paradigm, one of the biggest and most prestigious crypto funds, is reportedly working on raising a fresh $1.5 billion fund to expand its thesis into robotics and AI, The Wall Street Journal reported in February. Plus, Y Combinator, which has cranked out many crypto and blockchain-related startups over the years, didn’t ask for any in its most recent “Requests for Startups” list.
Earlier this week, former Andreessen Horowitz investor Katie Haun announced that her crypto-focused firm, Haun, has also raised a new $1 billion fund and will continue to invest in this market. But she’s also looking for AI agent tech as it intersects with crypto/blockchain and fintech.
The latest a16zcrypto fund will not be lured away by hotter markets, a spokesperson tells TechCrunch, promising that it will be “dedicated 100% to crypto entrepreneurs.”
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The Police Service Commission, PSC, has approved the promotion of more than 3,800 senior police officers, including two Deputy Inspectors-General of Police, DIGs, 10 Assistant Inspectors-General of Police, AIGs, and 17 Commissioners of Police, CPs.
Torty Njoku Kalu, Head of Protocol and Public Relations at the Police Service Commission in Abuja, disclosed this in a statement, saying the promotions followed the officers' successful performance in promotion examinations and oral interviews conducted by the commission.
The approvals were granted at the commission's plenary meeting in Abuja, presided over by its chairman, DIG Hashimu Salihu Argungu.
Among those promoted were AIG Olaolu Adegbite, Head of the INTERPOL National Central Bureau in Abuja, and AIG Dankombo F. Morris, who heads Zone 4 Headquarters in Makurdi. Both were elevated to the rank of Deputy Inspector-General of Police.
Adegbite holds a BA in Russian Language from the University of Lagos and an MA in Philology from the Pushkin Institute in Moscow. He is a recipient of the national honour of Member of the Order of the Federal Republic, MFR, a member of the FBI National Academy Associates, and an alumnus of Harvard Kennedy School. He previously served as Director of Operations at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
In another development, the 10 officers elevated to the rank of Assistant Inspector-General of Police included Omosanyin Olusegun (CP Administration, FCID Annex, Ikoyi, Lagos); Ogbodo Ugobueze (CP Anti-Fraud, FCID Annex, Enugu); Ohagwu Felix Ndukwe (CP, Ondo State); Taylor Lennox Olanrewaju (AIG/ES, Nigeria Police Cooperative); Regina Cosmas Udoette (CP GI, FCID Annex, Enugu); and Afolabi Wilfred Olutokunbo (CP, Abia State Command), among others.
Similarly, officers promoted to the rank of Commissioner of Police included DCP Nache Bashir Liman (DC ZCID); Sirajo Lawal Salihu (DC FMIU); Ayeleye Adegboyega E. (DC AHTU, FCID); Isiaka O. Salau (DC SID, Ibadan); Usman Shaik Adamu (DC CID, Jos); Aminu Maiwada Garba (DC DFA, NGS); Abdulkarim Musa Waziri (DC DFA, Yobe); Muhammad Yusuf Adamu (DC Administration, FCID); Sani Adamu Nufawa (DC Inter School, Kwara State); Bello M. Adamu (DCA, Zone 2); Okezie Chikezie C. (DC Anti-Fraud, FCID, Abuja); and Aminu Usman Gusau (DC DFA, Katsina), among others.
Congratulating the newly promoted officers, PSC Chairman DIG Hashimu Salihu Argungu urged them to see their promotions as motivation to perform their duties more diligently, particularly in protecting lives and property and enforcing the law.
Goals by Oluebube Umejiaku and Mary Dunstan made all the difference for Nigeria on Thursday, as the Flamingos defeated Mexico 2-1 in the 2026 FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup round of 16, Sports247 reports.
Coach Akeem Busari and his lasses will now turn attention to a clash with Venezuela in the quarter-finals, with an understanding that their next opponents shocked title favourites Germany 1-0 on Wednesday.
Nonetheless, Busari’s squad will be spurred on by the euphoria of Thursday’s win, as the Flamingos gave yet another thrilling display of attacking flair to overcome the Mexicans, with Umejiaku opening scoring in the 40th minute and Dunstan later hit target midway through the second half.
Mexico pulled one back 10 minutes to into added time, to set up a tense finish, but Busari’s wards held firm to book their place in the last eight and now turn their attention on how to defeat Venezuela, as they continue their quest to improve on Nigeria’s bronze medal finish of the 2022 edition in India.