Andreessen Horowitz raises $2.2 billion for its largest ever cryptocurrency fund

• Prominent VC firm Andreessen Horowitz launched a $2.2 billion crypto fund.
• It's the firm's largest fund of its kind, and the third crypto-focused fund.
• Reports about the $1 billion crypto fund have been circulating since April.

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) announced Thursday it is launching a $2.2 billion crypto fund to deploy more capital across blockchain and digital asset projects.

The fund, called "Crypto Fund III," is a16z's third and largest crypto venture fund.

"The size of this fund speaks to the size of the opportunity before us: crypto is not only the future of finance but, as with the internet in the early days, is poised to transform all aspects of our lives," Katie Haun and Chris Dixon, partners who will co-lead the fund, said in a blog post.

The Financial Times reported in April that the venture capital firm would be raising $1 billion for a crypto fund. After that news, several VCs told Insider that firms have been scrambling to get into crypto deals.

A16z's first crypto-focused fund in 2018 ushered in $300 million of LP commitments. Its second fund, which closed in April 2020, brought in about $515 million.

One of the firm's first forays into crypto was a 2013 investment in Coinbase. This April, A16z exited Coinbase upon the cryptocurrency exchange's public debut. According to estimates, the venture capital fund made so much money on Coinbase it may have banked enough to repay its last two funds totaling $4.5 billion.

A16z is also adding a swath of new hires to the crypto team. Among them is Bill Hinman, former director of the SEC division of corporation finance, and Brent McIntosh, former Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs.