Andreessen Horowitz venture capital firm which is also known as a16z has brought former United States CFTC commissioner Brian Quintenz aboard its operation as an advisor.
Over the last several years, cryptocurrency regulation has become a more important concern. Andreessen Horowitz, a venture capital firm, has hired a former leader of the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or CFTC, to join its team to address these legal ins and outs amid the ever-changing regulatory waters.
“I’m thrilled to announce that Brian Quintenz, a former Commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, is joining as an advisory partner on the crypto team as part of our larger effort to ensure we have a world-class support system in place when it comes to policy and regulatory matters,” Andreessen Horowitz general partner Katie Haun wrote in a Thursday announcement on the a16z web site.
In particular, there has been a lot of regulatory debate in the United States and overseas in the last year. The US Treasury announced plans to strengthen self-hosted crypto asset wallet surveillance in December 2020, and the US infrastructure bill recently includes language that could put significant hardship on the growing crypto market.
Other governments have also taken regulatory action, as seen by their measures against Binance, a digital asset exchange.
Andreessen Horowitz appears to have noticed the crypto industry’s current regulatory landscape and wanted to help the companies in its portfolio.
“Our portfolio projects are innovating in previously unimagined ways, and we strive to support them with a comprehensive spectrum of resources on their route to success,” Haun wrote in the post.
The CFTC and the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States, or SEC, are two regulatory authorities that are frequently mentioned when legal norms collide with cryptocurrency. Haun wrote about the importance of having a previous regulatory head on hand:
“The CFTC plays a critical role as a federal regulator with jurisdiction over digital currencies, utility tokens, and other non-security commodities and Brian has long stood out as an innovative thinker in the crypto and DeFi space. He understands both how crypto technology works and how the CFTC thinks about the issue. His ability to translate between the two will be central to the success of a16z Crypto’s policy program and our portfolio companies.”
Other former US government officials, such as Jay Clayton, the former head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, have joined other crypto-related organizations.
