technology
Ex-Congressman from North Carolina, Patrick McHenry, declared on Wednesday that he has secured a position with the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz as a senior advisor.
In his post on X, he shared limited details about his new role, mentioning that it involves advocating for startups (which a16z refers to as “runt tech”) in discussions with policymakers. Andreessen Horowitz did not promptly respond to a request for comment.
McHenry served two decades in Congress before stepping down in january. He was notably recognized as the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and gained attention for his confrontations with then SEC chair Gary Gensler.
Gensler had notably become a controversial figure within the crypto community by filing lawsuits against crypto exchanges such as Coinbase, threatening legal action against others like Robinhood. The current SEC is actively dismissing those lawsuits and investigations.
“Under Chair Gensler’s leadership, the SEC has turned into an out-of-control agency,” McHenry stated during a hearing in September,” accusing him of “regulation through enforcement.”
Meanwhile,a16z has raised $7.6 billion dedicated to crypto/web3 technology by 2022 and is increasingly involved in policy and government matters. Earlier this month, Brian Quintenz who heads policy for a16z’s crypto team, announced his appointment to leadThe Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Additionally, Sriram Krishnan,a former general partner at a16z,is now serving as senior policy advisor at the White House; Scott Kupor,a managing partner at the firm,was selected to headThe Office of Personnel Management;and Jamie Sullivan another investor at the company,isreported to be advisingDOGE.
Andreessen Horowitz’sgrowing American Dynamism initiative , which supports startups focused on defense and government technology , is also actively hiring , most recently bringing onformer Marine Daniel penny as an investor .
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