Andreessen Horowitz to open first office outside the U.S. in London in bet UK will become crypto hub

cnbc.com:

LONDON — Andreessen Horowitz is opening its first office outside of the U.S. in London, the venture capital firm announced Monday.

Andreessen Horowitz, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm that has backed leading tech companies from Airbnb to Coinbase, said it was looking to take advantage of what it sees as a more welcoming environment for crypto entrepreneurs in the U.K. The firm believes the U.K. will become a global leader in crypto, blockchain and digital currencies.

The U.S. has been cracking down on the crypto industry lately, with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announcing lawsuits against crypto titans Binance and Coinbase last week. Essentially, the SEC is arguing many crypto tokens should be classified as securities, which would subject them to much stricter oversight and transparency requirements.

The U.K. earlier this year also proposed its first formal regulations of the crypto industry, seeking to clamp down on practices in the wake of the collapse of FTX, a crypto exchange once worth $32 billion. Many crypto investors say this would provide more clarity, particularly as they are facing heightened uncertainty in the U.S.

«The prime minister's leadership is critical, but we have seen a wonderful openness to the promise of the technology, as well as a strong interest in whatever regulatory regime comes online, focusing on consumer protection,» Brian Quintenz, head of policy at Andreessen Horowitz, told CNBC in an interview.

«Frankly, I don't think this current administration in United States is doing either — it's a moment in a time when the U.K. acts nimbly and quickly, but robustly.»

Sriram Krishnan, an ex-Twitter employee who joined Andreessen Horowitz as a general partner, will relocate to