A16z Crypto to Open Seoul Office, Hire Sungmo Park to Lead Asia Efforts

Finance Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email A16z Crypto to Open Seoul Office, Hire Sungmo Park to Lead Asia Efforts Andreessen Horovitz's crypto venture capital unit pointed to high levels of crypto ownership in South Korea and Singapore, and growing onchain activity in Japan. By Sam Reynolds | Edited by Sheldon Reback Dec 10, 2025, 8:00 p.m. A16z crypto is expanding into Asia with an office in Seoul (Daniel Bernard/Unsplash modified by CoinDesk) What to know : Venture fund a16z crypto is opening its first office in Asia, located in Seoul, and named Sungmo Park to lead it. The Seoul office aims to build partnerships and accelerate community growth across the region. South Korea's active onchain community and developer ecosystem probably influenced the fund's decision to choose Seoul over other Asian financial hubs. A16z crypto, a venture capital fund of Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), said it is expanding into Asia, opening an office Seoul and hiring Sungmo Park to head operations in the region. South Korea is the world's second-largest crypto market, the Andreessen Horovitz unit said in a blog post. The office will work with founders by building partnerships, strengthening distribution channels, and accelerating community growth across the region, it said, pointing to high levels of crypto ownership in South Korea and Singapore, and growing onchain activity in Japan. STORY CONTINUES BELOW Don't miss another story. Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today . See all newsletters Sign me up By signing up, you will receive emails about CoinDesk products and you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . While Hong Kong and Singapore have long been the financial capitals of Asia, South Korea is a center for crypto development. For a16z crypto, being close to where things are actually being built, not just banked or regulated, was likely a key factor in picking Seoul as its Asia hub. South Korea hosts one of the world’s most active onchain communities, with crypto exchanges like Upbit known as powerhouses for volume , and its developer ecosystem is deep, resilient, and product-focused. Almost 1/3 of South Korean adults own crypto, the fund said. Park, the former APAC lead at Monad Foundation, will work with both early-stage teams and established enterprises, drawing on his experience at Monad Foundation and Polygon Labs, where he led go-to-market efforts and ecosystem development across East Asia, Greater China, Southeast Asia and India. Seoul A16z crypto A16z Asia Venture Capital More For You Protocol Research: GoPlus Security By CoinDesk Research Nov 14, 2025 Commissioned by GoPlus What to know : As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M. GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month. Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B. View Full Report More For You Surf Raises $15M to Build AI Model Tailored to Crypto Research By Will Canny , AI Boost | Edited by Stephen Alpher 3 hours ago Pantera Capital led the round, with Coinbase Ventures and Digital Currency Group also participating. What to know : Surf raised $15 million to develop "Surf 2.0" and launch an enterprise product aimed at institutional users. The firm said it has generated more than 1 million research reports since July and is seeing 50% month-over-month growth. Read full story Latest Crypto News Consumer Groups Join Unions Trying to Derail U.S. Crypto Market Structure Bill 10 minutes ago Paxful Pleads Guilty to Aiding Crime, Ignoring AML Laws 40 minutes ago Federal Reserve Cuts Rates 25 Basis Points, With Two Members Voting for Steady Policy 1 hour ago The Protocol: Stripe’s Tempo Testnet Goes Live 2 hours ago Stellar Edges Higher to $0.251 Despite Altcoin Market Apathy 2 hours ago Hedera Rises 1.8% to $0.1372 as Government Adoption Momentum Builds 2 hours ago Top Stories Federal Reserve Cuts Rates 25 Basis Points, With Two Members Voting for Steady Policy 1 hour ago SpaceX’s $300M Bitcoin Stack Puts Crypto Inside the World’s Biggest Planned IPO 4 hours ago Tether Rolls Out Privacy-Focused Health App as Expansion Into AI Accelerates 3 hours ago GameStop Posted $9.4M Loss on Bitcoin Holdings in Q3 3 hours ago Strategy Pushes Back on MSCI’s Digital Asset Exclusion Proposal 4 hours ago Eric Trump's American Bitcoin and Anthony Pompliano's ProCap Add to BTC Holdings 5 hours ago