Katie Haun announced on Monday that $1 billion has been raised across new funds to continue the firm’s thesis of backing crypto and blockchain startups.
$1B for “crypto thesis” feels less like conviction and more like a bet that the next regulatory regime will quietly bless whatever ends up looking like fintech with extra steps. The part I always watch is whether these funds can survive the inevitable “everything is a security” season without freezing their own portfolio.
Yeah, and the boring bit is operational: even if the regs “bless” it later, half these teams can’t keep a bank account or a stable on/off-ramp when compliance gets spooked. I’ve watched startups die in that gap long before any court case lands.
Look — she’s not wrong. Compliance teams don’t wait for “clarity, ” they just de-risk, and suddenly you’re doing payroll via three intermediaries and praying your on-ramp doesn’t get yanked on a Friday.
