The U.S. enterprise capital agency Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) formally opened the doorways of its Seoul workplace, changing into the most recent main crypto investor to enter a serious market the place almost one in three adults owns digital property.
Except for a16z, South Korea has obtained a wave of acquisitions, trademark functions and investments from different firms like Ripple, Cosmos Labs and Tether, who’re additionally trying to get on the transferring practice.
Why did a16z select Seoul?
a16z’s official announcement states that it selected to launch its first Asian workplace in Korea after evaluating the nation’s technical workforce, client adoption charges, and aggressive place throughout a number of industries starting from AI and manufacturing to protection and content material.
a16z first introduced plans to broaden into Asia in December 2025. The announcement confirmed that roughly one in three Korean adults holds crypto, representing a participation charge that’s greater than the stock-market possession within the nation. The agency famous that South Korea is the “second-largest crypto market” globally by buying and selling exercise.
Different main crypto companies have been making comparable expansions into Korea over the previous two months. As an illustration, Tether filed seven trademark functions with Korea’s mental property workplace in Might, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire toured Seoul, assembly executives at KB Monetary Group, Shinhan Monetary Group, and Hana Monetary Group, and Ripple signed pilot packages with KBank, an area monetary establishment, again in April. Cosmos Labs acquired the Mintscan blockchain explorer and arrange a Seoul subsidiary the identical month.
Korea can be getting ready its Digital Asset Fundamental Act that can require overseas stablecoin issuers to keep up home branches in the event that they wish to distribute tokens regionally. By establishing a bodily presence now, a16z is positioning itself and its portfolio firms to adjust to these guidelines earlier than they formally take impact.
What’s a16z’s technique for its Asian market?
a16z has shared that its Seoul operation will begin with crypto-focused work after which widen its scope over time.
Sungmo Park, who joined a16z as its crypto Asia-Pacific go-to-market lead when the Asia enlargement was introduced in December, will run the Seoul workplace. Park beforehand held APAC roles at Monad Basis and Polygon Labs and speaks Korean, Japanese, Chinese language, and English.
In contrast to Circle, which has signed partnerships with exchanges Dunamu (operator of Upbit) and Bithumb whereas telling Korean media it might search an area subsidiary and license, a16z doesn’t require a license, nor does it intend to launch a product.
As an alternative, it’s constructing go-to-market infrastructure so its present portfolio firms, which span crypto protocols, infrastructure, and functions, can attain Korean customers and companions extra simply.
As a consequence of South Korea’s proposed Digital Asset Fundamental Act, quite a lot of overseas crypto companies are already jockeying for a place within the nation.
The agency has not disclosed which portfolio firms will likely be first to make use of the Seoul workplace for market entry, however Park’s mandate covers all of Asia-Pacific, so the workplace might additionally function a staging level for enlargement into Japan, Singapore, and India, all markets a16z flagged as high-growth in its December announcement.
