Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), a major Silicon Valley venture capital firm, will remove the word "crypto" from the name of its blockchain investment fund, The Information reported on Oct. 22, citing sources.

a16z Crypto told some limited partners it will change the name to "a16z Frontier" and expand its investment scope beyond cryptocurrencies, the report said.

a16z Crypto has formed 5 funds so far and raised close to $10 billion. General partner Ali Yahya (알리 야히야) told some investors he will leave the firm to start a startup. Yahya joined the a16z crypto team in 2017 as its first full-time hire.

After launching its first dedicated fund in 2018, a16z Crypto invested in Coinbase, Uniswap and Axie Infinity developer Sky Mavis under the leadership of general partner Chris Dixon. During the 2022 crypto bull market, it raised a $4.5 billion fund. Its latest fund announced in May this year was $2.2 billion, less than half the size of the 2022 fund.

The Information said the cooling of enthusiasm for investing in crypto startups was the reason.

a16z Crypto has recently invested in companies unrelated to blockchain, including Kalshi and "Orum", a financial infrastructure startup for the AI computing market.

Other major crypto venture capital firms are also expanding their investment scope. Haun Ventures, founded by former a16z Crypto member Katie Haun, launched a new $1 billion fund in May and said it would also consider investing in financial startups outside cryptocurrencies.

Paradigm launched a new $1.2 billion fund in August and said it would invest in AI and robotics, among other areas.