Andreessen Horowitz has hosted an "unusual" meeting with crypto watchdogs
Andreessen Horowitz brought Washington watchdogs together for a meeting to convince them of the potential of the nascent technology.
According to a Wall Street Journal report, the venture capital investor hosted a private event in May that invited officials from the Treasury Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), as well as cryptocurrency companies on the venture firm's portfolio. Although these regulators and companies regularly meet in private and public conferences, the assembly of so many high-level government agencies that have influence over cryptocurrencies still made Andreessen Horowitz’s event "unusual," according to regulatory experts cited by the Journal.
Andreessen Horowitz tried to persuade these Washington officials to loosen up their regulations on cryptocurrencies. However, regulators are still very cautious, writes the Journal. The Treasury Department's undersecretary told startups at the meeting that cryptocurrency companies' compliance with AML rules still needs improvement, while former CFTC chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo stressed the importance of regulations in the cryptocurrency market to the venture firm.
Andreessen Horowitz has invested in an array of blockchain startups in the past, including blockchain startup MakerDAO, cryptocurrency custodian Anchorage, and blockchain cloud computing firm Oasis Labs.
