Fred Ehrsam | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Frederick Ernest Ehrsam III May 10, 1988 |
| Education | Duke University |
| Known for | Coinbase Paradigm |
| Website | www.fredehrsam.org |
Frederick "Fred" Ernest Ehrsam III [1] is an American businessman, and the co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase [2] and the venture investment firm Paradigm.
Ehrsam was born on May 10, 1988, in Boston, growing up in Concord, Massachusetts. [3] He played video games professionally in high school, and was an avid World of Warcraft player, which introduced him to the concept of in-game digital currencies. [4] [2]
In 2010, Ehrsam graduated with distinction from Duke University, [4] earning a B.S. in computer science with a minor in economics. [5] At Duke, he was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. [6] [7]
After graduating from Duke, Ehrsam became a foreign exchange trader at the investment bank Goldman Sachs in New York City. [2] [8] He learned about Bitcoin from a Georgetown University professor's paper, and began trading in his free time. [4]
In 2012, Ehrsam and Brian Armstrong co-founded Coinbase in an apartment in San Francisco, as a way for cryptocurrency enthusiasts to trade bitcoins and other digital currencies. [9] [4] The two met on the Bitcoin subreddit forum. [4] Ehrsam served as Coinbase's first President. [10] In January 2017, he announced he was leaving the company, but would remain on its board. [9] He also reportedly still owned 8.9% of Coinbase stock as of April 2021, and was assigned to the company's audit committee before its April 2021 public offering. [10]
In 2018, Ehrsam co-founded cryptocurrency investment firm Paradigm with former Sequoia Capital investor Matt Huang. [11] They founded the company to invest in cryptocurrencies and the companies that focus on that market, and became the firm's managing partners. [12] [13]
In October, 2023, Ehrsam stepped down from his managing partner role at Paradigm and announced he will continue to act as a general partner. [14]
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