a16z crypto’s Response to the Department of Treasury’s Request for Comment

Michele Korver

On August 8, 2022, a16z responded to the Department of the Treasury’s request for comment entitled, “Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets; Request for Comment.”

Treasury issued the request for comment in light of President Biden’s Executive Order, which directed the appropriate federal agencies to investigate the potential use of blockchain technology.

a16z crypto’s response focuses on five main issues:

  1. Treasury’s process in soliciting the request for comment and its approach to digital assets broadly.
  2. Current blockchain and web3 adoption, use cases, and future opportunities.
  3. Impediments to further adoption.
  4. General and specific risks in the digital asset ecosystem.
  5. The positive impact of digital assets on vulnerable populations.

A highlight of the response includes exciting facts about blockchain and web3 projects relating to the environment, identity management, enterprise, NFTs (non-fungible tokens), online gaming, wireless networks, media and content creation, and data storage.

You can read a16z’s comment letter in full at this link.

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The views expressed here are those of the individual AH Capital Management, L.L.C. (“a16z”) personnel quoted and are not the views of a16z or its affiliates. Certain information contained in here has been obtained from third-party sources, including from portfolio companies of funds managed by a16z. While taken from sources believed to be reliable, a16z has not independently verified such information and makes no representations about the enduring accuracy of the information or its appropriateness for a given situation. In addition, this content may include third-party advertisements; a16z has not reviewed such advertisements and does not endorse any advertising content contained therein.

This content is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. You should consult your own advisers as to those matters. References to any securities or digital assets are for illustrative purposes only, and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. Furthermore, this content is not directed at nor intended for use by any investors or prospective investors, and may not under any circumstances be relied upon when making a decision to invest in any fund managed by a16z. (An offering to invest in an a16z fund will be made only by the private placement memorandum, subscription agreement, and other relevant documentation of any such fund and should be read in their entirety.) Any investments or portfolio companies mentioned, referred to, or described are not representative of all investments in vehicles managed by a16z, and there can be no assurance that the investments will be profitable or that other investments made in the future will have similar characteristics or results. A list of investments made by funds managed by Andreessen Horowitz (excluding investments for which the issuer has not provided permission for a16z to disclose publicly as well as unannounced investments in publicly traded digital assets) is available at https://a16z.com/investments/.