A16z Crypto opens office in South Korea as it bets on Asia

cointelegraphPublicado em 2025-12-11Última atualização em 2025-12-11

Resumo

Crypto venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) is opening its first Asia-based office in Seoul, South Korea, as part of a broader strategy to expand its presence and portfolio across the region. The firm highlighted Asia's strong concentration of onchain users, with nearly a third of South Korean adults owning digital assets. According to Chainalysis, 11 of the top 20 countries for crypto adoption are in Asia, with significant growth, high ownership rates in countries like India, Japan, and Singapore. The expansion aims to support portfolio companies with growth, partnerships, and community building. Anthony Albanese, a16z Crypto managing partner, stated this is just the beginning, with plans to further grow their regional footprint. The Seoul office will be led by SungMo Park, formerly of Polygon Labs. A recent survey also found that 87% of affluent Asian investors hold crypto, with about half allocating more than 10% to digital assets.

Crypto venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) is opening its first Asia-based office in South Korea with plans to expand its portfolio in the region.

The firm stated that there was a “particularly strong concentration” of onchain users in Asia, and the expansion aims to support portfolio companies with growth, partnerships, and community building across Asia.

“Our expansion will offer go-to-market support for portfolio companies seeking to accelerate growth, forge strategic partnerships, and build lasting communities across Asia,” said a16z Crypto managing partner and chief operating officer, Anthony Albanese.

Albanese said the region represents a significant share of global crypto activity, with nearly a third of South Korean adults owning digital assets.

India also leads global adoption rankings, Japan has seen onchain activity grow 120% in the past year, Singapore has one of the world’s highest rates of crypto ownership, and 11 of the top 20 countries for crypto adoption are Asian, according to Chainalysis.

A16z to expand further into Asia

“This is just the beginning,” said Albanese. “Over the coming years, we plan to grow our presence in Asia, add new capabilities to support our crypto companies operating there, and keep exploring new ways to expand our geographic footprint,” he added.

The move signals where one of the industry’s largest investors sees future growth; it is not just about capital deployment, but being embedded where the users and builders are.

Asian region has strong crypto adoption

The new Seoul office is being led by SungMo Park, who brings experience from Polygon Labs.

“Through the network, experience, and relationships I’ve built over the years in this industry, I’ll help a16z Crypto’s founders access not just a new market, but the regional context and knowledge they need to scale,” said Park on X.

Related: Robinhood set to enter Indonesia, targeting 17M crypto traders

This week, Sygnum reported that 6 in 10 surveyed Asian high-net-worth individuals were prepared to increase their crypto allocations based on a strong long-term outlook.

The survey also revealed that 87% of affluent Asian investors already hold crypto, and around half have an allocation of more than 10%

Magazine: XRP’s ‘now or never’ moment, Kalshi taps Solana: Hodler’s Digest


Leituras Relacionadas

Optical Chips: Collective Capacity Expansion

The global optical chip industry is experiencing a massive wave of expansion driven by surging AI data center demand. Major players across the US, Japan, Europe, and China are aggressively investing to ramp up production capacity. In the US, Coherent is expanding its 6-inch Indium Phosphide (InP) semiconductor fab in Texas, supported by CHIPS Act funding and a $2 billion strategic investment from NVIDIA. Lumentum is building a new factory for InP optical devices, and Nokia is scaling its advanced photonic chip packaging and testing capabilities. NVIDIA's investments aim to secure future supply of critical lasers and optical interconnect products for AI infrastructure. Japan's JX Advanced Metals, a leading InP substrate supplier, plans a multi-billion yen investment to increase its capacity 7-10 times, strengthening its grip on the crucial upstream materials market. In Europe, IQE and Tower Semiconductor settled a patent dispute and signed a multi-year InP epitaxial wafer supply agreement, highlighting that next-generation silicon photonics platforms will integrate high-performance InP components. STMicroelectronics and Sivers Semiconductors are also expanding silicon photonics production and partnerships. China is rapidly building out its domestic supply chain. Dongshan Precision's subsidiary, Source Photonics, announced a $12 billion project to expand optical chip and module production. Companies like Sanan Optoelectronics and Yunnan Germanium are scaling up InP chip manufacturing and substrate production, moving towards vertical integration from materials to modules. While debate continues around the exact future architecture—whether CPO (Co-Packaged Optics), NPO, or pluggables will dominate—analysts like Morgan Stanley argue the underlying driver is unchangeable: the explosive growth in bandwidth demand. This will inevitably increase the volume of optical engines, lasers, and related content per GPU, regardless of the final technical path. The competition for "more light" in the AI era has intensified into a global, full-chain capacity race.

marsbitHá 40m

Optical Chips: Collective Capacity Expansion

marsbitHá 40m

Stablecoins Finally Find Real Yield: An In-Depth Look at On-Chain Reinsurance Re | A Conversation with Re Founder Karan Saroya

Stablecoin Real Yield Found: A Deep Dive into On-Chain Reinsurance with Re's Karan Saroya As stablecoin supply exceeds $170 billion, the search for sustainable, non-speculative yield intensifies. Re, an on-chain reinsurance platform, provides an answer: connecting stablecoin capital to the trillion-dollar traditional reinsurance market. Re operates as a regulated reinsurer, accepting stablecoin deposits as collateral to back US insurance companies. These insurers pay premiums, generating yield that flows back to on-chain depositors. Currently supporting 35 insurers and underwriting $500 million, Re projects scaling to over $1 billion soon. Key insights from a Bankless podcast with founder Karan Saroya and investor Avichal of Electric Capital: 1. **Uncorrelated, Real-World Yield:** Re offers stablecoin holders access to reinsurance returns (targeting 12-14%+), an asset class entirely separate from crypto or equity markets. 2. **Operational Efficiency via Smart Contracts:** Re replaces traditional, labor-intensive capital fundraising with smart contracts, allowing a ~12-person team to compete with industry giants. 3. **Regulatory Leverage:** For every $1 of collateral, regulations allow backing $5-7 in written premiums. This leverage amplifies returns from the underlying risk-free rate. 4. **DeFi Integration:** Depositors receive receipt tokens, which can be used in protocols like Morpho for "looping," potentially pushing yields to 18-20%+. 5. **The "DeFi Mullet" Model:** A compliant front-end (regulated reinsurer) paired with a decentralized back-end (smart contracts, DeFi capital markets). 6. **RE Governance Token:** Modeled on Lloyd's of London, the token governs the central capital pool's allocation, counterparty acceptance, and parameters. 7. **Real Economic Impact:** Capital funds real-world productivity (factories, clinics, businesses) via insurance, moving beyond crypto's internal loops. The discussion highlights a pivotal moment: DeFi's supply-side infrastructure is now met by real demand for productive yield, potentially kickstarting a flywheel where vast on-chain stablecoin capital seeks these real-world returns.

链捕手Há 2h

Stablecoins Finally Find Real Yield: An In-Depth Look at On-Chain Reinsurance Re | A Conversation with Re Founder Karan Saroya

链捕手Há 2h

1996 or 1999? Walsh's First Test is 'How to View AI'

"1996 or 1999? Wall's First Big Test Is 'How to View AI'" Federal Reserve Chairman Wall's initial challenge is not whether to raise or cut rates, but a more fundamental judgment: what kind of boom is the current AI boom? This will determine the Fed's policy path and define his legacy. Economics is split between two opposing views, according to reporter Nick Timiraos. One sees imminent productivity gains that will increase supply and cool inflation, allowing the Fed to hold steady. The other argues that while productivity benefits are distant, demand shocks are here now, and waiting for data confirmation risks missing the intervention window, forcing sharper rate hikes later. Wall has signaled a leaning toward the first view, echoing 1996-era Alan Greenspan, who embraced strong, productivity-driven growth without fear of inflation. However, Wall faces a different macro environment than Greenspan did, with tariff pressures, expanding fiscal deficits, and diminishing globalization benefits, which could force more significant inflation pressures even if AI benefits materialize. Wall's logic, expressed before taking office, is that AI-driven productivity gains won't show in official data for years. If the Fed waits for confirmation, it might mistakenly tighten policy and choke off the very growth that could suppress inflation. This argues for using forward-looking narratives over lagging data. Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee presents a key counter-argument. He distinguishes between expected and unexpected productivity booms. A widely anticipated boom, like the current AI wave, can cause people to spend future wealth gains in advance, overheating the economy before productivity actually rises, thus requiring preemptive rate hikes. He cites rising costs for AI data centers as evidence of such overheating. Fed Governor Christopher Waller offers a rebuttal to Goolsbee, noting the "expected spending" mechanism only works if people can borrow against future income, which many households cannot do due to borrowing constraints. Wall also faces a paradox related to his desire to reduce the Fed's use of "forward guidance" (pre-announcing policy moves). This practice was established in 1999 when Greenspan began signaling hikes to avoid market shocks. If the economy follows a less optimistic path, Wall may be forced to choose between using the guidance he wants to abolish or risking market volatility by staying silent. The ultimate question defining Wall's first major test remains: Is this 1996 or 1999?

marsbitHá 3h

1996 or 1999? Walsh's First Test is 'How to View AI'

marsbitHá 3h

Ethereum Q1 2026 Report: Fees Decline, Users and Transaction Volume Hit New Highs

Ethereum Q1 2026 Report: Fees Down, Users & Transactions Hit New Highs Token Terminal's Q1 2026 report on Ethereum presents a pivotal development: the network achieved record highs in monthly active users (13.2M, +85.9% YoY), total transactions (200.4M, +81.5% YoY), and throughput (25.78 TPS), while transaction fees on the mainnet plummeted by 47.9% quarter-over-quarter. This shift is attributed to the network's strategic move into a "low fees for scale" phase, exemplified by the Fusaka upgrade which increased data capacity and lowered block space costs, releasing pent-up demand (a manifestation of Jevons's Paradox). The report highlights a core narrative shift for Ethereum: from a DeFi-centric blockchain to a global financial settlement layer. It maintains a dominant position in tokenized assets, holding majority market shares among top chains in stablecoins (61.8%), tokenized funds (73.0%), and tokenized commodities (84.0%). Growth in tokenized funds (+73.1% YoY) and commodities (+325.9% YoY) was particularly strong, driven by institutions like BlackRock and JPMorgan entering the space. Contrasting these usage gains, several USD-denominated value metrics declined in Q1: fully diluted market cap fell 30.3% QoQ, total value locked (TVL) dropped 11.0%, and ecosystem transaction volume decreased 24.0%. The report interprets this as Ethereum prioritizing long-term network expansion and cementing its role as the default settlement layer for finance over short-term fee capture. The commentary from Etherealize argues that, much like the early internet, Ethereum's open, permissionless model is poised to win over closed alternatives as institutional tokenization accelerates.

marsbitHá 4h

Ethereum Q1 2026 Report: Fees Decline, Users and Transaction Volume Hit New Highs

marsbitHá 4h

Intel CEO Liwu Chen's First Podcast Interview: Our Goal is '10x in 5-10 Years', Betting on Advanced Packaging, Glass Substrate, and Synthetic Diamond

Intel CEO Chen Liwu outlines a bold vision for the company's transformation in a podcast interview, targeting a "10x return in 5-10 years." He emphasizes a strategic shift beyond traditional process node scaling, focusing on advanced packaging (like EMIB), new materials (glass substrates, GaN, SiC, InP, synthetic diamond), and system-level integration. Key to this is Intel's foundry business, where he prioritizes building trust through superior yield, defect density, and cycle times. Chen sees strong CPU demand resurgence driven by agent AI and inference workloads. He details the Terafab collaboration with Elon Musk to address semiconductor infrastructure gaps and stresses the strategic importance of U.S.-based advanced manufacturing. Acknowledging Intel is still in the "crawl" phase of his crawl-walk-run framework, Chen believes the company's full potential—extending from its PC base into edge computing and physical AI—will become apparent by 2030-2032.

marsbitHá 4h

Intel CEO Liwu Chen's First Podcast Interview: Our Goal is '10x in 5-10 Years', Betting on Advanced Packaging, Glass Substrate, and Synthetic Diamond

marsbitHá 4h

Trading

Spot
Futuros
活动图片

Categorias popularesright-arrow

Etiquetas Popularesright-arrow