The a16z move adds to a broader push by crypto firms into South Korea as proposed stablecoin rules and high retail adoption sharpen the market’s strategic appeal.
Andreessen Horowitz has formally opened its Seoul office about six months after announcing its Asia expansion in December, making it the latest major crypto investor to establish a presence in South Korea. The venture capital firm said it selected Korea for its technical workforce, high consumer adoption of digital assets and competitiveness across industries including AI, manufacturing, defense and content. a16z previously said roughly one in three Korean adults holds crypto and described the country as the world’s second-largest crypto market by trading activity. The Seoul operation will begin with crypto-focused work before broadening over time and will be run by Sungmo Park, a16z’s crypto Asia-Pacific go-to-market lead. The move comes as South Korea prepares its Digital Asset Basic Act, which would require foreign stablecoin issuers to maintain domestic branches to distribute tokens locally, and as firms including Tether, Circle, Ripple and Cosmos Labs also deepen their presence in the market.