US venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has officially opened the doors of its Seoul office, becoming the latest major cryptocurrency investor to enter a major market where nearly one in three adults own digital assets.
Aside from a16z, South Korea has received a wave of acquisitions, trademark applications, and investments from other companies such as Ripple, Cosmos Labs, and Tether, who are also looking to join the moving train.
Why did the a16z choose Seoul?
a16z’s official announcement states that it chose to launch its first Asian office in Korea after evaluating the country’s technical workforce, consumer adoption rates, and competitive positioning across multiple industries ranging from AI and manufacturing to defense and content.
a16z first Announced plans to expand into Asia in December 2025. The announcement showed that nearly one in three Korean adults own cryptocurrencies, representing a higher participation rate than the country’s stock market ownership. The company indicated this South Korea It is the “second largest cryptocurrency market” in the world in terms of trading activity.
Other major cryptocurrency companies have made similar expansions in Korea over the past two months. For example, Tether Seven trademark applications have been filed With the Intellectual Property Office of Korea In May, Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Circle, toured Seoul, where he met with executives from KB Financial Group, Shinhan Financial Group, and Hana Financial Group. Ripple has signed pilot programs with KBank, a local financial institution, in April. Cosmos Labs has acquired the Mintscan blockchain explorer and Establish a subsidiary in Seoul Same month.
Korea is also preparing a digital asset statute that will require foreign stablecoin issuers to maintain local branches if they want to distribute tokens locally. By establishing a physical presence now, a16z is preparing itself and its portfolio companies to comply with these rules before they officially go into effect.
What is a16z’s strategy for its Asian market?
a16z shared that its operations in Seoul will start with a cryptocurrency-focused business and then expand its scope over time.
Sungmo Park, who joined a16z as the Asia-Pacific cryptocurrency market leader when the expansion into Asia was announced in December, will manage the Seoul office. Park previously held positions in the Asia Pacific region at Monad Foundation and Polygon Labs and speaks Korean, Japanese, Chinese and English.
Unlike Circle, which has signed partnerships with exchanges Dunamu (the operator of Upbit) and Bithumb while telling Korean media that it will seek a subsidiary and a local license, a16z does not require a license, and has no intention of launching a product.
Instead, it is building a go-to-market infrastructure so that its existing portfolio companies, which include crypto protocols, infrastructure and applications, can reach Korean users and partners more easily.
Due to the Digital Assets Basic Law proposed by South Korea, a lot of foreign cryptocurrency companies are already vying for position in the country.
The company did not reveal which portfolio companies would be the first to use the Seoul office to enter the market, but Park’s mandate covers the entire Asia-Pacific region, so the office could also serve as a springboard for expansion into Japan, Singapore and India, all markets it rated as high-growth in its December announcement.
