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🐳 Daily Edition: Bitcoin Surges, a16z Raises $2.2B for 5th Crypto Fund

🐳 Daily Edition: Bitcoin Surges, a16z Raises $2.2B for 5th Crypto Fund

ETF flows are strengthening as the major crypto funds prepare capital to fund verticals like tokenized assets, stablecoins, and agentic payments

Beluga & Will McKinnon
May 06, 2026

Bitcoin started the day by surging to almost $83k, before pulling back a tad to $81k at time of writing. Most of the heavy-lifting was done by the ETFs which are now on the cusp of their second consecutive month of net inflows, the first time we’ve seen that since the October 2025 top. We’re still about $3B off the peak of +$61.19B in flows, but it’s interesting to see how much of that institutional capital has returned despite Bitcoin still a +55% move off of ATH.

24 Hour Crypto Heatmap, Source: CMC

The obvious implication here is that a significant chunk of crypto-native holders have been replaced by the ETF buyers, which should in turn result in a more stable growth cycle for BTC. I think this is likely a net win for those in it for the long-term, but the nostalgia in me is definitely a little sad to see the “old guard” rotate out like this (even if the plan was always to sell to the bankers).

One name that’s not just sticking around but actually doubling down is a16z, which yesterday announced a $2.2B raise for their Crypto fund 5. This brings their total crypto-focused AUM to $10B, and this fresh capital will be directed towards investing in stablecoins, tokenized assets, and agent infrastructure. You might think you’ve heard the names of those categories enough times to last a lifetime, but it’s pretty clear investor appetite for those verticals is still rising quickly.