- The UK seems poised to become the center of the famously decentralized crypto universe now that one of the world’s biggest venture capital firms is betting crypto pitches will land better with a cockney accent.
- VC giant Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) announced over the weekend that it will open its first office outside the US in London, where it plans to focus on blockchain investments. A16z cited UK authorities’ bullishness on Web3 as the reason for establishing its international outpost there.
- Andreessen Horowitz also announced funding for the UK-based blockchain venture Gensyn—which is focused on AI development—and plans to hold its annual crypto startup accelerator in London next year.
The UK offers clarity (for a better view of the moon) A16z said that “a clear regulatory regime” is essential to blockchain innovation, and the UK aims to provide just that. Its government recently unveiled plans to develop comprehensive crypto rules that protect consumers while incentivizing innovation. It starts at the top: - It was clear that now-UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was on the blockchain hype wagon when, as chancellor of the exchequer, he told Morning Brew last year that he looks at and follows NFTs of “dumb monkeys.”
- He’s since talked about turning the country into a global hub for crypto and pushing to make stablecoins (e.g., crypto pegged to a traditional currency) legal tender.
Meanwhile, US authorities have made it clear that the sheriff has come to town with some litigation-based regulation of an industry that’s often compared to the Wild West. Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission sued the crypto exchanges Binance and Coinbase (the latter of which is an a16z portfolio company) in cases that could imperil their stateside future. The big regulation moves concern a16z, as it’s plugged crypto ventures with more than $7.6 billion worldwide. |
