A16z, also known as Andreessen Horowitz, the venture capital (VC) company that has invested millions in crypto-related projects, has announced the launch of its own crypto research lab. This new initiative seeks to marry academic research with producing ideas and putting them into practice in startups and organizations in which the company is heavily invested.
This potential the VC firm sees in the blockchain environment is what is fueling its dedication to trying to solve all the new problems that the crypto environment faces, combined with the ability to put these resolutions to the test. On this, a16z stated:
There is an opportunity for an industrial research lab to help bridge the worlds of academic theory with industry practice, and to help shape crypto and web3 as a formal area of study by bringing together the very best research talent from the various disciplines that are relevant to the space.
The lab will be headed by Tim Roughgarden, a researcher and computer science professor at Stanford and Columbia, and Dan Boneh, professor of computer science and electrical engineering at Standford, where he also leads the Center for Blockchain Research.
A16z has created this initiative with a practical focus in mind, applying the solutions designed and found via investigation to part of the companies in which a16z has important investments.
Be it DAOs (decentralized autonomous organizations), decentralized finance, or NFT Gamefi projects, the a16z crypto lab will have four teams directed to make companies in the a16z portfolio generate ideas for solving hard open problems, implement these solutions in code, make sure these solutions comply with regulations, and share these findings with the crypto community.
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