On April 2, it was reported that Andreessen Horowitz, which is a U.S.-based venture capital firm, was in the process of restructuring the company. This will entail renouncing its venture capital exemptions and registering as a financial advisor.

The company, which operates in California's Silicon Valley, invests mainly in startups related to both technology and financial services. For these operations they have 7 funds, which have raised $1.7 billion in total. But once they and their 150 employees complete the transition to a financial advisor, they will no longer be considered a venture capital firm.

By doing this, the company will henceforth be able to expand its investments into more riskier endeavors, including cryptocurrencies. The company, for example, would be able to invest $1 billion into digital currencies if they so desired. They would also not be limited in the number of shares they bought in a particular company, regardless of whether they bought these shares from public exchanges or from investors. The company believes that all this will give them a big leg up against venture capital firms that still operate under restrictions.

But this restructuring will not come without cost. They have to hire compliance officers and perform audits of every single employee. What's more, the company's investors will be prohibited from discussing the company's portfolio or the performance of its funds in public. On the positive side, though, the company's partners will now be able to share deals with others.

Andreessen Horowitz has been very active in the cryptocurrency industry. In September of 2018, the company invested $15 million in MakerDAO, which is a blockchain startup, though its a16z investment fund. By doing this, they acquired 6% of MakerDAO's tokens. MakerDAO, in conjunction with a company called Dai Credit System, hopes to offer what they believe will be the first stablecoin that is both decentralized and autonomous.

Last year, Andreessen Horowitz established a $300 million digital currency fund, which invests in a wide variety of projects, including initial coin offerings (ICOs) and blockchain-based startups. In June of that year, they hired Katie Haun to run the fund.