Be greedy when others are fearful: a16z’s new $4.5B crypto fund 🤑; The Fast Saga continues? Bolt is laying off 30% of its staff 😳; Europe’s biggest 2021 IPOs are all down 📉

Good Morning FinTech, 27 May

Good day Everyone,

There’s no better way to finish off your week than by reading this newsletter. Especially given that today’s issue is the best one this week thus far. It focuses on a16z’s new $4.5B crypto fund that illustrates why you should be greedy when others are fearful, a continuation of the Fast Saga as Bolt lays off 1/3 of the staff (bonus is a growing list of 50+ ex-Bolt employees that could be a good fit for your biz), and Europe’s biggest 2021 IPOs that are all in the red right now. So without further ado, let’s jump straight into the good stuff:

Be greedy when others are fearful: a16z’s new $4.5B crypto fund 🤑

The (rich) news 💸🗞 Silicon Valley VC heavyweight Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) is doubling down on crypto despite the market downturn. The VC firm has formed a new $4.5 billion fund that will be used to invest in cryptocurrency and Web3 companies.

More on this 👉 The fund is the firm's fourth to target digital assets, with over $7.6 billion being raised in total. Of the $4.5B, $1.5B will go towards seed investments while the rest is being set aside for venture investments.

"We think we are now entering the golden era of Web 3," the company said in its announcement, adding that it's "excited" about developments in blockchain gaming, decentralized finance (DeFi), decentralized social media, and non-fungible tokens (NFT).

One can remember that previous funds were raised last June and in April of 2020, both of which came shortly after the crypto market downturns.

What does this mean? Warren Buffett once famously said that it is wise for investors to be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful. A16z is illustrating the latter perfectly. Here’s the takeaway: