a16z to launch new crypto research unit led by Columbia, Stanford researchers
With the launch of its crypto research team, VC firm a16z aims to tackle the research problems that are impeding mainstream crypto adoption.
Venture Capital firm (a16z) on Thursday announced the launch of its crypto research team led by faculty from Columbia and Stanford universities.
Ali Yahya, General Partner at a16z, and Chris Dixon, General Partner at a16z, (who was featured in the Forbes “Midas List” as the world’s greatest venture capital investors), confirmed the launch of the crypto research team.
The blog post read "we’re excited to announce the creation of a16z crypto research, a new kind of multidisciplinary lab that will work closely with our portfolio and others toward solving the important problems in the space, and toward advancing the science and technology of the next generation of the internet. "
The crypto research team will be led by Tim Roughgarden, researcher and computer science professor at Stanford University and Columbia University, and Dan Boneh, professor of computer science and electrical engineering at Stanford University.
Other members including Harvard’s Scott Duke Kominers, Meta’s Valeria Nikolaenko, author Joseph Bonneau, and researcher Benedikt Bünz will be part of the founding team.
"There is an opportunity for an industrial research lab to help bridge the worlds of academic theory with industry practice, and to help shape crypto and web3 as a formal area of study by bringing together the very best research talent from the various disciplines that are relevant to the space."
The crypto research team aims to tackle the fundamental issues that are impeding mainstream crypto adoption. Furthermore, a16z is not the only VC firm venturing into establishing a crypto research lab.
VC firm has earned its name in the space on the strength of its own research team. Recently, the firm also collaborated with Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland on a new mechanism to promote non-fungible tokens (NFT).
Both the firms appear to be competing against each other, and recently a16z announced to raise $4.5B for crypto and Web3 startups, while in November 2021, Paradigm raised $2.5 billion for the same.
Edited by Megha Reddy
