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As crypto cools, a16zcrypto raises a $2.2B fund

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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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‘You don’t behave like Yoruba person’ – SDP’s Adebayo hits Tinubu

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The Social Democratic Party, SDP, presidential candidate, Adewole Adebayo, on Friday insisted that President Bola Tinubu does not behave like a Yoruba person.

Adebayo explained that Tinubu does not exhibit the traits of a genuine Yoruba person usually referred to as “omoluabi”.

Featuring on Channels Television’s Inside Sources, the presidential candidate said Tinubu does not meet the standard of the late sage, Obafemi Awolowo, as well as Ladoke Akintola and other second and third Republic leaders.

He said, “Tinubu does not behave like a Yoruba person, he doesn’t have that omoluabi character.

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“There is no traditional ruler, Afenifere or clergy who can honestly go to a Yoruba gathering and say that Bola Tinubu is a Yoruba person.

“Awolowo has set the standard, if you look at Adesoji Aderemi, Ladoke Akintola, if you look at the quality of people in the Second Republic, look at the Third Republic, look at the governors, the quality of leadership, if you look around, the kind of Yoruba person you can use to represent other Yoruba people, he doesn’t meet the standard.

“I want to let you know that Yorubas are not tribalistic, they are not nepotistic. No Yoruba person will use a bad example of a Yoruba person to inspire his children.”

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Sokoto boosts coastal highway security with 10 Hilux vehicles

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The Sokoto government has donated ten Hilux vehicles to the 8 Division of the Nigerian Army to safeguard the ongoing construction of the Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway initiated by President Bola Tinubu.

The vehicles were formally handed over by deputy works minister Bello Goronyo.

Speaking at the ceremony on Thursday in Sokoto, Mr Goronyo said Governor Ahmad Aliyu donated the ten operational vehicles to support military personnel and the security architecture for the highway project.

He described the donation as another milestone in actualising Mr Tinubu’s objective of providing critical infrastructure for Nigeria, particularly the four legacy projects under the Renewed Hope Agenda.

“This very important arterial road corridor is a stretch of about 1,068 kilometres and is going to criss-cross Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger, Kwara, Oyo, Ogun and Lagos states. It is going to link to the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, a span of about 750 kilometres, and it will link to the Trans-Saharan route which will begin from Esso in Calabar all the way to Benue and other corridors to Akwanga, Jos, Bauchi, Gombe and beyond,” he said.

Mr Goronyo added that the superhighway is a deliberate attempt to ensure Nigeria’s infrastructure is built for prosperity, as it will be constructed on continuously reinforced concrete that will outlive the present generation by 50 years or more.

According to him, infrastructure development will add to the nation’s gross domestic product, provide safer travel, and facilitate the evacuation of agricultural produce.

He commended Mr Aliyu for the timely intervention and for demonstrating true partnership with the federal government in delivering Mr Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

(NAN)

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