A top VC is teaming up with the co-founder of Coinbase to launch an investment fund that's all about cryptocurrency
- Sequoia partner Matt Huang is leaving the venture capital firm in June to launch a new fund focused on cryptocurrency.
- Fred Ehrsam, co-founder of the $1.6 billion cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, is co-launching the fund.
Sequoia partner Matt Huang is teaming up with Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam to launch a brand new fund, focused entirely on cryptocurrencies.
The new fund was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, and confirmed to Business Insider by Sequoia.
Huang, who joined Sequoia in 2014, will leave the firm in June, though Sequoia will make a substantial investment in the fund, according to the Journal.
"Matt will remain a good friend of Sequoia and we wish him great success," said Alfred Lin, a partner at Sequoia, in a statement.
Huang, whose own company HotSpots was acquired by Twitter in 2012, previously invested in enterprise companies like Crew and PlanGrid, along with more consumer-focused companies like Reddit. But lately, his attention has been focused on blockchain technology.
He's so far invested millions in two blockchain startups - Orchid Labs and Filecoin - and two cryptocurrency hedge funds, MetaStable and Polychain Capital.
"Once you spend enough time in the area, there's enough real substance coming to the forefront and strong legitimate teams working on interesting problems that I think it is a really promising space for investing," Huang told Business Insider back in November.
Ehrsam, who helped build the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase into a $1.6 billion company, is also well known in the blockchain arena.
A former Goldman Sachs trader, Ehrsam stepped down from Coinbase in early 2017, but has stayed on the board of directors.