Cryptocurrency Firms, Investors Seek Exemption From SEC Oversight

Andreessen Horowitz and other venture-capital backers of digital-currency firms lobby regulators

WASHINGTON—Big Silicon Valley backers of cryptocurrencies have sought a broad exemption from federal oversight they say would slow digital coin growth, as the industry steps up lobbying to limit government oversight of the burgeoning world of cryptocurrencies.

Andreessen Horowitz and Union Square Ventures met with officials at the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 28, arguing that Washington oversight could slow innovation based on the blockchain technology that underpins cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, people...