Fred Ehrsam is the co-founder of crypto exchange Coinbase and the co-founder of blockchain-focused venture capital firm Paradigm. Ehrsam started his professional career as a trader for Goldman Sachs.
Coinbase is a digital currency exchange and wallet platform headquartered in San Francisco, California. The company offers a variety of different products to their users, including a retail exchange (simply referred to as Coinbase) through which users can trade fiat for a variety of cryptocurrencies. Likewise, Coinbase provides a wallet capable of storing multiple cryptocurrencies and tokens in addition to digital collectibles. The company also offers offline cryptocurrency storage for institutions through its Coinbase Custody product.
Ehrsam left Coinbase in 2017 to pursue other crypto related ventures, while continuing to hold a position on the board of directors. In 2018, he co-founded Paradigm with Matt Huang, formerly from Sequoia Capital, and Charles Noyes, from Pantera Capital. Paradigm’s goal is to invest and help early stage cryptocurrency, blockchain and exchange companies and projects. After its launch in 2018, Paradigm raised over $400 million from investors, including Yale University and Sequoia Capital.
During his time at Coinbase, Ehrsam made the Time magazine 30 under 30 list in 2013 as well as Forbe’s 30 under 30 list in 2014.