"What they didn't want was to put time, effort and energy behind somebody who, at the end, would be a disappointment," Moreno said.
A spokesperson for Andreessen and Horowitz, who are co-founders of a venture firm bearing their names, declined to comment. Sacks, founder of Craft Ventures, didn't respond to CNBC's request for an interview.
Coinbase's Shirzad met Moreno over breakfast in Washington in the spring. Moreno wasn't an expert on the details of the policy issues he'd be pursuing but had a clear understanding of crypto technology and how it could be applied, Shirzad told CNBC in an interview.