a16z’s Guy Wuollet says crypto is leaving hoodie phase for ‘collared shirt’ decade

a16z crypto partner Guy Wuollet says crypto is entering its “collared shirt” era, as the firm doubles down on a 10‑year infrastructure bet even while high‑profile partners exit amid a new $2b fundraise.

Guy Wuollet, a16z crypto partner has published a new essay arguing that “finance is not separate from a larger vision; it is part of it,” describing blockchains as foundational infrastructure rather than a speculative sideshow. “At a16z and a16z crypto, we are looking long‑term: our fund structure is designed for a cycle of over 10 years because building new industries takes time,” the partner wrote, likening the current phase to laying railways before new categories of applications can run. The piece stressed that many breakthrough apps will only emerge once wallets, identities, liquidity, and trust mechanisms are mature, echoing a16z research that compares crypto’s timeline to the decades of work behind modern AI.

a16z crypto doubles down on long‑term thesis

That message is consistent with comments from a16z crypto general partner Chris Dixon, who recently said blockchain is “the next foundational infrastructure of the internet,” and that the industry is in a long “foundation‑building phase” similar to the 1943 neural‑net paper for today’s AI boom. Dixon has also noted that the firm has held onto about 95% of its historically invested assets because, in his words, “selling high‑quality assets too early is the worst decision in venture capital.” The stance underpins a16z crypto’s push into themes like stablecoins, tokenization, privacy, and prediction markets, laid out in a “Big Ideas 2026” roadmap that frames crypto as the plumbing for an internet where value moves as quickly as data.

The long‑term rhetoric comes as some a16z‑linked partners adjust their own career paths. Foresight News reported that Arianna Simpson, a general partner at a16z crypto, has “announced her resignation,” while fellow partner Kofi Ampadu is also leaving after the firm paused its Talent x Opportunity (TxO) program; a memo obtained by TechCrunch shows Ampadu telling staff that “closing my a16z chapter” followed four years of backing out‑of‑network founders. Those moves reflect a broader reshuffling inside top crypto VCs, as funds rebalance between seed bets, growth‑stage deals, and new AI‑crypto hybrids.

Despite the personnel churn, a16z crypto itself is pressing ahead with a fresh war chest. According to a report citing multiple insiders, the firm’s blockchain arm is targeting around $2 billion for its fifth dedicated crypto fund, on top of a broader $15 billion multistrategy raise across infrastructure, applications, and growth‑stage vehicles. Since launching its inaugural $300 million crypto fund in 2018 — in the wake of Bitcoin’s first run to $20,000 — a16z has grown that platform into a $4.5 billion vehicle and now backs projects from exchanges and DeFi protocols to gaming and NFT studios.

For builders, the message is mixed but ultimately constructive: competition for a16z checks is intensifying, even as the capital pool itself grows. On one hand, the departure of familiar faces like Simpson and Ampadu shows that even marquee crypto franchises are not immune to internal strategy shifts; on the other, a $2 billion target fund and a stated commitment to hold 95% of positions signal that LPs and partners remain aligned on treating crypto as a decade‑plus play. The firm’s research arm continues to push for clearer token rules and large‑scale DeFi adoption, arguing that “great endeavors take time” and that today’s messy, volatile years are the “groundwork” phase before a sharp inflection in usage.