A16z’s Marc Andreessen Tells Joe Rogan Biden Administration “Debanked Over 30 Crypto Startups”

The government allegedly sanctioned over 30 tech startups including crypto companies in the past four years.
Image source: Wikipedia

Quick take:

  • Andreessen claims similar patterns can be traced as far back as 15 years ago when they started to ‘debank unconventional businesses’ and became popular during “Operation Choke Point”.
  • The A16z says the Biden administration extended the practice to include tech and crypto founders.
  • He also opens up on what went down during a meeting that sought to promote AI companies in the US, with the government insisting on full control.

In the run-up to the November U.S. election, several crypto companies had already declared their support for President-elect Donald Trump. 

While the Securities and Exchange Commission’s war on crypto was perceived to be the predominant reason for the crypto industry’s stand, A16z co-founder and General Partner Marc Andreessen revealed during a Joe Rogan podcast why some founders chose to endorse Trump.

Andreessen Horowitz (A16z), which runs a crypto subsidiary A16z Crypto and a gaming fund, A16z Games, has been one of the leading investors in Web3 and gaming startups.

While a lot of blame from the crypto community regarding recent lawsuits against crypto startups at Gary Gensler and the SEC, Joe Rogan’s podcast with Andreessen, which curator Ben Averbook summarised in an X thread reveals there was a lot more going on behind the scenes that prompted crypto companies to support Trump. 

According to Andreessen, the government debanked over 30 tech startups including crypto founders over the past four years. He also claims that the exercise goes back 15 years during the Obama administration when several ‘unconventional startups’ including marijuana businesses were debanked. 

The exercise became more popular during the “Operation Choke Point” in 2013, which investigated banks in the United States and the businesses they dealt with including firearm dealers, payday lenders and others that were considered a high risk for fraud and money laundering despite operating legally.

Andreessen claims the current administration extended that practice over the past four years to include tech founders, especially crypto startups.

He also opened up on what went down during a meeting in the Spring that sought to promote AI companies in the U.S., saying that the government insisted on having full control and wanted to limit the number to just a small number of large companies (2-3). 

That’s why “you go and endorse Donald Trump,” Andreessen said, in a response to Rogan’s question about what you do “when you leave a meeting like that.”Andreessen’s A16z has invested in some of the biggest crypto companies including Yuga Labs’ $450 million fundraising announced in 2022 and most recently led an $80 million Series B round for Story Protocol, dubbed the World’s IP Blockchain.


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