• Investors Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz expressed their joy over Trump’s victory on their podcast.

• Venture capital firms have previously criticized the impact of the Biden administration’s crypto regulations on some startups.

• Andreessen and Horowitz each donated $2.5 million to a pro-Trump PAC.

Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, the founders of the famous venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, are the latest additions to Donald Trump. billionaire backers to celebrate his return to the White House.

In a recent episode On their podcast “The Ben and Marc Show,” Andreessen said Trump’s victory was a relief from the “suppression” he and other crypto startup founders had felt under the president’s administration Joe Biden.

“It was like a boot to the throat,” Andreessen said. “Every morning I wake up happier than the day before.”

Under Biden, regulators were repressed on what SEC Chairman Gary Gensler called the “Wild West” of the crypto industry. In particular, regulators have taken action against some startups and other companies following allegations that the companies offered unregistered securities when rolling out certain crypto products.

Stricter crypto regulations ultimately were a major factor in Andreessen and Horowitz’s endorsement of Trump earlier this year.

Despite decades of support for Democratic presidential candidates, including Barack Obama in 2008 and Hillary Clinton in 2016, Andreessen said in a previous episode from their podcast that tech billionaires were increasingly criticized for giving away their wealth instead of paying more taxes.

Biden’s plan to tax unrealized capital gains was the “last straw” in his decision to support Trump, Andreessen said in July.

“It makes startups completely implausible, because why the hell is anyone going to do that instead of going to work for Google and getting paid a lot of money every year in cash?” he said at the time.

The two investors each donated $2.5 million to the pro-Trump “Right for America” super PAC. However, after Biden dropped out and Vice President Kamala Harris entered the race, Horowitz said he planned a “significant” donation to his campaign.

In his most recent podcast, Andreessen said the new Trump administration meant founders were now able to work on “legitimate things” that had previously been blocked.

“I’ve talked to a lot of cryptocurrency founders who say, ‘We can build these products now,’” Horowitz added.

Andreessen and Horowitz did not immediately respond to a request for additional comment from Business Insider.

On Sunday, Andreessen Horowitz published a blog post titled “A Positive Way Forward” aimed at crypto founders in the company’s portfolio.

“The good news is that there is now a path to constructive engagement with regulatory agencies and legislation that can provide regulatory clarity,” the blog says. “You should all now feel empowered to explore all the revolutionary products and services enabled by blockchains, including tokens.”

“Even though we will likely have greater flexibility to experiment, we cannot forget that the fundamental regulatory principles applicable to blockchain systems remain unchanged,” he continues. “This means that ‘where there is trust, there is regulation’ still applies.”

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