The new public cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has its difficulties. Still, the nearly nine-year-old, San Francisco-based team got much ahead of its highly successful live list this week, presumably, inviting former federal prosecutor Katie Haun to join its board in 2017, including. At the time, Han spent just 11 years on behalf of the judiciary handling cases of violent murder and organized crime and, subsequently, the fast-growing world of cryptocurrency. In fact, as part of his work, Haun learned Coinbase and other up-and-coming startups better understand digital currencies and decentralized systems.
Because Han, who had won every case he argued, was ready for change, when Brian Armstrong arrived about a formal role, he said yes. (A year later, in 2013, Anderson Horowitz wrote the first check in Coinbase, separately bringing him on board as the first female general partner of the enterprise firm.) The combination has proven to be effective and profitable. Initially an independent board member, Haun offered shares for his services that are now worth about $150 million (the A16 shares are worth more than $11 billion). Meanwhile, Haun- who recently renewed his board term – says the company’s most effective days are still ahead.
We spoke with Haun yesterday about the evaluation of Coinbase, its evolution from here, and his work on the 16-person crypto fund, which he co-led by longtime general partner and fellow Coinbase board member Chris Dixon, and the team probably “saw and did more deals.” In the last few months compared to the last few years, “he said. He added that most of the money in these 16 genres poured into tokens. TC: You are working on this intense case, including the murder trial, and at one point, your superiors in the judiciary gave you the opportunity to know what Bitcoin is? How did the offer get you to Coinbase?
KH: I first came to know Coinbase through the work I was doing in the government crypto case. I set up the first cryptocurrency task force of the U.S. government outside the judiciary and part of our job was to meet with companies or entrepreneurs in space and find out what they were and how we could work with them. Of course, like any industry, government objectives not always integrated with the crypto industry. However, sometimes adjustments made [and] sometimes they may need to reach out to someone in government in one of these agencies. Coinbase was not the only crypto company that I was interfering with in government days. There were many more. However, this is the first time I know.
