Andreessen Horowitz, already a big investor cryptocurrency-related startups, is founding a research lab dedicated to trying to solve some of the hardest problems facing the industry.
The lab, dubbed a16z crypto research after the venture firm's nickname, has hired some high profile computer science researchers and will work on not only developing solutions to problems but publicizing its findings, Andreessen announced Thursday.
"Innovation in the space is only accelerating," the Menlo Park firm said in its announcement. "There is an opportunity for an industrial research lab to help bridge the worlds of academic theory with industry practice."
Tim Roughgarden, a professor of computer science at Columbia University, will head the lab's team of researchers. Among the team's members will be Dan Boneh, a professor of computer science and electrical engineering at Stanford University who also heads the school's Center for Blockchain Research.
Other members will include Benedikt Bünz, the chief scientist at Espresso Systems, a Menlo Park startup that helps companies scale their blockchain-based apps; and Valeria Nikolaenko, a research scientist and blockchain cryptographer at Novi Financial Inc., a Meta Platforms Inc.-owned company that's working on a blockchain-based international money transfer service.
The research lab will aid Andreessen's portfolio companies in attempting to solve problems in the cryptocurrency space and help advance blockchain technology, the firm said in the announcement.
The initiative comes as a16z and other venture firms have been ramping up their investments in blockchain-related startups and cryptocurrency projects and launching big new cryptocurrency-focused funds.
It also comes as all that investment has drawn a growing number of questions and concerns about the industry, regarding everything from its already massive environmental impact to its long-term financial sustainability.
