
Wall Street warns human-built markets can’t keep up with machine-speed trading
Wall Street executives caution that human-built markets can't keep pace with machine-speed trading.

Andreessen Horowitz has raised $2.2 billion for its fifth crypto fund, totaling $9.8 billion in crypto investments. This fund is smaller than its previous record fund but matches its 2021 size.
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Andreessen Horowitz said Tuesday that it has raised $2.2 billion for its fifth crypto fund, bringing the firm's total crypto capital under management to nearly $9.8 billion.
The firm’s a16z Crypto arm has backed some of the industry’s biggest companies, including crypto exchange Coinbase, prediction market giant Kalshi, blockchain network Solana, and decentralized exchange Uniswap. Now the venture capital giant has fresh billions to pour into crypto infrastructure and products.
"A new financial system is taking shape that runs continuously, settles nearly instantly, costs almost nothing, and is open to anyone with internet access," the firm stated in a blog post. "The founders we're backing with this $2.2 billion fund are working on the part of the cycle that gets less attention and produces more of the lasting value: turning new infrastructure into products people use every day."
In the post, Andreessen Horowitz pointed to what it sees as positive trends in the crypto industry, including demand for prediction markets and perpetual futures, and especially the continual rise of stablecoins.
“Trading volumes go up and down with the market, but stablecoin usage has kept climbing even through downturns,” the firm wrote. “People are using them to save, to send money across borders, and to pay for things, often exposing just how slow, expensive, and unreliable the alternatives are. Their growth looks less like speculation and more like network adoption: usage compounds because the technology is useful, not because of expectations about price action.”
The latest fund matches the size of a16z's third crypto fund raised in 2021 but falls short of its fourth fund's record $4.5 billion raised in 2022. The firm's crypto investment vehicles have grown substantially since its first $350 million fund in 2018, followed by a $515 million fund in 2020.
Other major crypto-focused venture firms have also recently closed significant funds. Haun Ventures raised a $1 billion second fund this week to back startups at the intersection of crypto infrastructure and the AI agentic economy. Dragonfly also closed a $650 million fourth fund earlier this year.
Andreessen Horowitz has raised a total of $9.8 billion for its crypto investments.
The firm has backed notable companies including Coinbase, Solana, and Kalshi.
The new fund is smaller than the record $4.5 billion fund raised in 2022 but matches the size of the 2021 fund.

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The crypto market started 2026 on a down note, after leading assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum hit new all-time high prices last year amid regulatory momentum following the election of President Donald Trump.
Bitcoin fell about 50% earlier this year from its October peak above $126,000, but has been gradually mounting a comeback, rising above $81,000 on Tuesday for the first time since January. Despite the growing recovery, numerous crypto firms have revealed layoffs in recent months—including Coinbase on Tuesday, cutting 14% of its staff.