Thread by @EricLiptonNYT

THREAD: The venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz—aka A16Z—has bet billions on world fueled by crypto, saying it will disrupt industries dominated by entrenched middlemen and is good for everyone. But they need new rules for this decentralized future. nytimes.com/2021/10/29/us/…

To assure the success of its bets, A16Z has kicked off a lobbying and influence campaign to reshape the American regulatory landscape in a way that accommodates its expansive and expensive crypto investment portfolio.

It starts with hiring Washington insiders. Katie Haun—a former DOJ crypto prosecutor— co-leads the firm’s latest $2.2 billion fund betting on blockchain. She launched a lobbying blitz, leveraging her connections to boost A16Z’s credibility as it makes its case in DC.

Haun brought in Tomicah Tillemann, now A16Z global policy chief, a former staffer for Biden when he was a senator. He advocates for the venture capitalists in meetings with White House officials, members of Congress and financial regulators.

Wait. There are more A16Z people talking crypto with former colleagues. Ex-SEC official Bill Hinman. CFTC commissioner Brian Quintenz, who joined the VCs a few weeks after leaving the agency. And the latest—Jai Ramaswamy, onetime DOJ prosecutor.

All these meetings A16Z’s growing policy team is having at Capitol Hill restaurants/the White House/lawmakers' offices are part of a push re crypto policy agenda. The topic always the same. The firm is circulating a plan, called “How to Win the Future.”

This super future A16Z envisions will foster competition, democratize all the industries with entrenched middlemen, ensure America’s tech dominance in the global innovation race—and work out AOK for A16Z. In sum, it’s a win-win-win-win.

But finance law experts who have closely examined A16Z’s pitch—which comes complete with draft legislative language written by the venture capitalists’ lawyers—say the new rules the firm wants law and policy makers to adopt are hardly in the public interest

The NYT heard similar concerns from several parties—A16Z’s plan sounds helpful, but they consider it self-interested and potentially dangerous.

A16Z said it welcomes the debate and is glad its proposals have apparently sparked one. It also said it was open to tweaking its ideas to ensure what it considers a good intentioned effort is not vulnerable to misuse.

READ THE NYT STORY: Silicon Valley venture capital giant A16Z makes big pitch to "win the future" by pouring billions into crypto startups and shaping the rules in DC. Story by @EricLiptonNYT @daiwaka
@el72champs nytimes.com/2021/10/29/us/…

ADDED BONUS: A NYT EXPLAINER. Just what is A16Z investing its billions in, re crypto? Take a look at the crazy array of startups they are putting money into. Companies that hope to blow up everything from telecom to banking & social media. nytimes.com/2021/10/29/us/…

This is hardly an esoteric debate. Just in the first three quarters of 2021, VC firms worldwide have poured $21.4 BILLION into crytpo/blockchain companies, in 1,196 different deals. That compares to $4.2 billion in same period of 2020. Pitchbook data (Thank you)

A technology revolution is upon us. Most of these startups will likely fail. But some will emerge as forces of change. The open question is if these VCs are giving birth to new Facebooks. Andreessen after all is on the Facebook board.

Pay attention to all this. It is not just an insider tech debate. The shape of our future that is at stake.