Andreessen Horowitz-Backed Entropy Announces Shutdown

TheNewsCryptoPubblicato 2026-01-26Pubblicato ultima volta 2026-01-26

Introduzione

Decentralized crypto custody startup Entropy, backed by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), is shutting down and returning remaining capital to investors, according to founder and CEO Tux Pacific. After four years, multiple pivots, and two rounds of layoffs, Pacific announced the decision on January 25. The company had recently shifted to a crypto automation platform but failed to meet venture-scale growth expectations. Entropy raised $25 million in a 2022 seed round led by a16z crypto, with participation from Dragonfly Capital, Coinbase Ventures, and others. Initially offering a decentralized alternative to custody providers like Fireblocks, the startup ultimately could not achieve sustainable growth. Pacific expressed gratitude to investors and indicated a personal shift away from crypto towards pharmaceuticals.

A decentralised crypto custody startup supported by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Entropy is terminating and plans to return the rest of the capital to investors, as per the founder and CEO Tux Pacific.

Pacific publicised through writing on X on January 25 that, “I am winding up Entropy, and after four years, various pivots and two rounds of layoffs, I have decided to terminate Entropy and return capital to the investors.”

The termination is followed by a late-stage push last year to reposition the firm around a crypto automation platform, which Pacific referred to as “basically n8n/Zapier/etc. for crypto”, having automated signing through threshold cryptography, safe computation leveraging trusted execution environments, and deep AI amalgamations.

That product direction was still not able to clear a venture-style growth bar. After the first feedback request disclosed that the business model was not venture scale, Pacific said that he was left with the choice to navigate a creative way forward or pivot once more.

The Heartful Gratitude

Entropy first captivated attention in 2022 when it generated $25 million in a seed round headed by a16z crypto, and the participants were Dragonfly Capital, Coinbase Ventures, Robot Ventures, Ethereal Ventures, Variant and Inflection. Before this, the company had so far accumulated $1.95 million in a pre-seed round.

At rollout, Entropy pitched itself as a decentralised alternative to custody providers like Fireblocks and Coinbase, depending on cryptographic approaches such as multi-party computation to allow users to control how funds move, comprising rule-based constraints.

Pacific also showed gratitude towards a16z crypto and Guy Wuollet for aiding in steering the wind-down and called their guidance “invaluable”. Pacific has also mentioned that they plan to step back before deciding what comes after Entropy.

He added that my time in crypto might be coming to a conclusion, as I feel myself drawn mainly into pharmaceuticals, and they want to work on hormone delivery and validate research on new oestradiol drug formulations.

Highlighted Crypto News Today:

Las Vegas Businesses Use Bitcoin as a Mainstream Payment to Avoid High Credit Card Fees

Domande pertinenti

QWhat is Entropy and why is it shutting down?

AEntropy is a decentralized crypto custody startup backed by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). It is shutting down because, after four years, multiple pivots, and two rounds of layoffs, its founder and CEO Tux Pacific decided to terminate the company as its latest product direction failed to meet venture-scale growth expectations.

QWho were the major investors in Entropy's seed funding round?

AEntropy's $25 million seed round in 2022 was led by a16z crypto, with participation from Dragonfly Capital, Coinbase Ventures, Robot Ventures, Ethereal Ventures, Variant, and Inflection.

QWhat was Entropy's final product pivot before shutting down?

AEntropy's final pivot was to reposition itself as a crypto automation platform, described by its CEO as 'basically n8n/Zapier/etc. for crypto', which featured automated signing through threshold cryptography, safe computation using trusted execution environments, and deep AI integrations.

QWhat did Entropy's founder, Tux Pacific, announce about his future plans?

ATux Pacific announced that he plans to step back before deciding his next move and expressed that his time in crypto might be concluding. He stated he is drawn to the pharmaceutical industry and wants to work on hormone delivery and validate research on new oestradiol drug formulations.

QHow did Entropy initially position itself in the market at its launch?

AAt its launch, Entropy positioned itself as a decentralized alternative to custody providers like Fireblocks and Coinbase, relying on cryptographic approaches such as multi-party computation to give users control over fund movements with rule-based constraints.

Letture associate

Which Companies Has NVIDIA's "Three-Track Investment Architecture" Invested In?

NVIDIA's investment strategy operates through a "three-track architecture," not just its NVentures venture arm. Corporate Development handles massive strategic bets (e.g., $30B in OpenAI, $10B in Anthropic, $20B in Synopsys). NVentures, a small team, focuses on early-stage, financial investments across sectors like quantum computing (Alice & Bob, PsiQuantum), AI infrastructure (OpenRouter, Tensormesh), and biotech. The NVIDIA Inception accelerator provides non-monetary support. This system allows NVIDIA to nurture startups and lock in strategic partners, creating a vast AI ecosystem. This aggressive capital deployment has drawn scrutiny. Critics like Michael Burry and EU regulators question potential "circular financing," where NVIDIA's equity investments in companies (e.g., CoreWeave, OpenAI) facilitate those companies' purchases of NVIDIA hardware, potentially inflating revenue. Supporters view it as a necessary "virtuous cycle" to secure supply and demand in a compute-scarce market. While NVentures' smaller deals appear like traditional VC, its role within the larger, controversial investment framework remains a point of debate.

marsbit27 min fa

Which Companies Has NVIDIA's "Three-Track Investment Architecture" Invested In?

marsbit27 min fa

Ten-Thousand-Word Analysis: From $10 to $290, MRVL Wins the Entire AI Era by 'Not Making GPUs'

Marvell Technology's stock price surged from under $10 in 2016 to a record $290 in June 2026, fueled not by making GPUs, but by dominating AI infrastructure connectivity. This analysis argues the market misvalues MRVL as merely a smaller Broadcom in custom AI chips, overlooking its true, unique position. Marvell's core strength lies in enabling high-speed data flow for AI clusters through three interconnected businesses. First, it holds a commanding ~70% market share in high-speed optical DSPs (essential for data center light modules), a deep-moat business with accelerating growth. Second, its custom AI chip design business serves hyperscalers like AWS, Microsoft, and Google, with a significant revenue pipeline despite lower margins. Third, stable cash flows come from Ethernet switch chips and enterprise storage controllers. Together, they form a full-stack "AI data movement" platform. CEO Matt Murphy's transformative leadership since 2016, involving strategic divestments, key acquisitions (like Inphi for optical DSPs), and securing long-term agreements with major cloud providers, repositioned the company. A pivotal $2 billion strategic investment from NVIDIA in 2026 underscored Marvell's critical role in the AI ecosystem, particularly through collaborations like NVLink Fusion. While Marvell faces risks—including client concentration (losing the Amazon Trainium3 design), lower-margin business mix, competitive threats, insider selling, and complex supply chains—its fundamentals remain strong. The optical interconnect moat is widening with the acquisition of Celestial AI (photonics fabric), and financial metrics show accelerating revenue growth and operating leverage. With a PEG ratio suggesting undervaluation relative to its growth, the thesis is that the market undervalues Marvell's monopolistic position in AI "plumbing" while overemphasizing its competitive custom chip segment. The story transcends investing, symbolizing how in any complex system—from the internet to AI—the value of "connection" ultimately surpasses that of individual "nodes."

marsbit29 min fa

Ten-Thousand-Word Analysis: From $10 to $290, MRVL Wins the Entire AI Era by 'Not Making GPUs'

marsbit29 min fa

AI Relay Stations Spark Heated Debate on Zhihu: Behind Cheap Tokens, What Are Users Really Worried About?

A discussion on Zhihu about "AI relay stations" shifted the niche developer topic of "cheap tokens" into broader user awareness. Users moved beyond simply questioning the legitimacy of these services to focus on practical concerns: Where do cheap tokens truly come from? Is the model being accessed the real one? Can relay stations see prompts, code, and API keys? For occasional users, are the risks worth it? The core debate centered less on price and more on trust. A primary worry is model authenticity—the risk of "model swapping," where users paying for a premium model might be routed to a cheaper one, creating an information asymmetry. Others argued that cost comparisons matter; while cheaper than official pay-as-you-go APIs, relay stations may not be the lowest-cost option versus subscriptions, domestic models, or free tiers, making user needs assessment crucial. Speculation about token sources ranged from legitimate bulk discounts to gray-area methods like account sharing or exploiting regional pricing. This opacity makes risk assessment difficult for users. Data security emerged as a critical concern, especially for enterprise use. When processing sensitive information like code, contracts, or client data, the inability to verify a relay station's data handling, retention, or access policies poses significant compliance and confidentiality risks. The evolving consensus suggests relay stations can be used cautiously for low-sensitivity, disposable tasks (e.g., summarizing public info, simple translation). However, they should not be the default for sensitive, professional, or production workflows involving proprietary data, Agents, or automated systems. Recommendations include avoiding large prepayments, not relying on a single service, using test prompts to monitor quality, anonymizing data where possible, and keeping official channels as backups. Ultimately, the discussion framed tokens not just as a billing unit but as a measure of real cost encompassing price, model integrity, data security, and service stability. The popularity of relay stations highlights user demand for affordable access, but the debate underscores a key trade-off: the savings from cheap tokens may come at the price of trust, transparency, and control over one's data and AI experience.

marsbit59 min fa

AI Relay Stations Spark Heated Debate on Zhihu: Behind Cheap Tokens, What Are Users Really Worried About?

marsbit59 min fa

In-Depth Research Report on TradFi: The Convergence Wave of Crypto and Traditional Finance

In 2026, the crypto industry is undergoing a profound infrastructure-level transformation—TradFi assets are migrating on-chain at an unprecedented pace. According to CoinGecko's Q1 2026 report, the total value locked (TVL) of tokenized real-world assets (RWA) has surpassed $31 billion, a nearly 4x increase from $7.8 billion at the beginning of 2025, with the sector’s aggregate market capitalization reaching $19.3 billion. Among these, the market cap of tokenized stocks surged from $2 million to $486 million, with Q1 spot trading volume reaching $15.1 billion—a single quarter already surpassing the entire second half of 2025. RWA perpetual contract Q1 trading volume reached a staggering $524.8 billion, far exceeding the $313 billion for all of 2025. Meanwhile, BlackRock's BUIDL fund has reached $2.3 billion in scale and has filed for two new tokenized funds, signaling that the world's largest asset manager's tokenization strategy is evolving from pilot to product suite expansion. HTX, as a core participant in the crypto exchange sector, officially launched TradFi perpetual futures products including NVDA, AAPL, MSFT, META, and SPY in 2026, enabling crypto users to gain 24/7 trading access to core U.S. equities. Boston Consulting Group predicts that global tokenized asset scale could reach $16 trillion by 2030, while McKinsey offers a conservative estimate of approximately $2 trillion. The on-chain migration of TradFi assets is no longer a "future narrative" but a structural transformation unfolding in real time, as crypto exchanges evolve from single crypto asset trading platforms toward "multi-asset-class trading infrastructure."

HTX Learn1 h fa

In-Depth Research Report on TradFi: The Convergence Wave of Crypto and Traditional Finance

HTX Learn1 h fa

Blockchain Association Urges Senate To Pass CLARITY Act With Letter Backed By 160 Ex-Officials

The Blockchain Association, along with 160 former national security and law enforcement officials, has urged Senate leaders to pass the CLARITY Act. They argue that without clear federal regulation, crypto activity will move to opaque offshore markets, hindering U.S. efforts to combat financial crime. The letter highlights that the Act would strengthen law enforcement by expanding anti-money laundering and sanctions requirements under the Bank Secrecy Act, improving information sharing between agencies like the Treasury, DOJ, and FBI, and enhancing oversight of digital asset kiosks with measures like transaction monitoring and fraud prevention. The Association emphasizes these are enforcement enhancements, not deregulation. Momentum for the bill is building, with a Senate vote expected this summer, though it would still need reconciliation with a previously passed House version.

bitcoinist1 h fa

Blockchain Association Urges Senate To Pass CLARITY Act With Letter Backed By 160 Ex-Officials

bitcoinist1 h fa

Trading

Spot

Futures