VC Whining (and Crocodile Tears)

With their hundreds in millions of management fees, a16z spends significant funds with slick media to whine about how government policy has hurt their crypto business. They posted the following on another platform this AM:

"The past four years had a greater impact on tech than any other period during his lifetime, Marc Andreessen says.

And the latest election results feel like “a boot off the throat,” he says.

So now that President Donald Trump has been re-elected, what’s about to change?

According to Marc and Ben, likely a lot—especially in AI, crypto, and defense.

They break down what they expect to see, and provide a full post-election recap, in the latest episode of The Ben & Marc Show, out now." 

My posted response to a16z:

Why don't you guys redirect your lobbying $ to something productive, like creating a self regulatory organization (SRO) for the crypto industry? Just creating some baseline disclosure requirements would root out a lot of the scams in crypto and would protect retail investors. You could easily fund the operations of an SRO with just a fraction of your 2% management fee on your crypto funds and you could ask your peers to do the same. The fact that you're lobbying your way to a regulatory answer while not working toward self enforcement just raises suspicions about your true motives and makes America look like a special interest democracy. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/vc-firm-a16z-pledges-23-184317414.html  PS: Or just ask all your portfolio companies to abide by the exemptions available in regulated investment crowdfunding - those rules are available if you're willing to abide by them.

Yahoo article headline: VC Firm A16z Pledges $23 Million to Fairshake for 2026 Midterms

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Thoughts for the industry: If the crypto industry gets what it wants and its own lane for regulation that is a lighter touch than Regulated Investment Crowdfunding, then I expect crowdfunding will be sidelined as money will flow to the "fast lane" of crypto. This could starve small businesses and small issuers that are willing to play by the rules and work within the crowdfunding exemptions.    

#regulatedinvestmentcrowdfunding