Near to two years in the previous, Katie Haun left Andreessen Horowitz and raised two crypto funds totaling $1.5 billion. And then . . . a crypto market crisis happened. At TechCrunch Disrupt, she gave the impression once more at what happened all through the final couple of years and confirmed that she’s however very optimistic about the future of crypto.
When Katie Haun was once as soon as a commonplace partner at a16z, bitcoin was once as soon as purchasing and promoting at $65,000 and Sam Bankman-Fried was once as soon as however at the helm of FTX. And Haun has the same opinion that those problems set the distance once more considerably. However it’s now now not a bad time to be a crypto investor.
“I believe there’s a trust to be had in the marketplace that crypto is crickets chirping. We find ourselves very busy, on the other hand one of the vital problems we did do is we spotted this market correction, and we very purposely waited to make some deployments,” Katie Haun mentioned. “So I know this is going to sound a little bizarre, on the other hand we in reality really feel in truth it’s a in level of truth good time to be investing in the distance far and wide this time.”
According to her, there are a few misconceptions about Haun Ventures. “I believe every other misperception is ‘Oh, wow, you raised it far and wide a high market, great timing, most sensible.’ In fact, that was once as soon as now now not the case,” Haun mentioned. “It was once as soon as now now not a walk in the park. Number one, crypto market cap had dropped 40% from its most sensible.”
“The other issue is trust of our fund is we’re one large, enormous $1.5 billion fund, and we’re now now not. We now have two funds. We now have an early stage fund, $500 million. We do A, B and C. And then we’ve now an acceleration fund, which backs a vast number of later stage tasks in crypto.”
When it comes to the larger fund, Haun Ventures now not too way back closed two gives without pronouncing them in two “iconic producers” in crypto which will also be emerging unexpectedly. Haun didn’t name those companies.
Without giving any exhausting numbers, Haun mentioned that her corporate hasn’t deployed a part of the larger fund. “Of our earlier stage fund, it’s considerably not up to that,” she mentioned.
She has no feel sorry about raising $1.5 billion all over her two funds. She thinks it’s the suitable measurement and he or she believes Haun Ventures will keep devoted to this kind of fund measurement in the long run.
“And by means of the best way in which, I’m sitting proper right here publicly citing this on the record in a stage environment, although {the marketplace} is in a large crypto bull run, we don’t intend to increase our measurement. We predict we’ve picked our measurement and our methodology for a explanation why,” Haun mentioned.
SEC might need to come once more to Earth
When talking in regards to the SEC and provide regulatory problems about cryptocurrencies, Katie Haun expressed some powerful opinions about some of the essential alternatives that have been made by means of the corporate.
“The law and the foundations are decided in this country by means of courts and by means of Congress. They’re now now not decided by means of independent corporations. So just because an corporate says something doesn’t in level of truth make it the law. And I believe a lot of other folks don’t remember the fact that. And so we’ve noticed corporations, certain branches of government — by means of the best way in which, all over different administrations too — get very, very involved,” Haun mentioned.
In particular, she criticized the prevailing control. “I believe the SEC underneath [Gary Gensler] has in level of truth taken a very expansive view in their jurisdiction in a means that I believe, by means of the best way in which, make no mistake, it’s now now not merely crypto, it’s on AI, it’s on native climate,” Haun mentioned.
“And I believe that’s a bit relating to, as a results of that’s now now not how our software is prepare. And I believe that’s why you’ve started to see some federal judges starting to say, ‘Wait a second, this is a step too a tactics,’” she added.
“I believe what’s going down now is regulators need to end up that they’re the cruel cop on the beat. They usually’re going after regardless of they’re in a position to, although they won’t in the long term be successful.”
The highest of FTX
As a former federal prosecutor, Katie Haun moreover had concepts about Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX in commonplace. She did meet him a couple of cases at conferences.
“I used to be on team of workers Coinbase and the objective marketplace was once as soon as by means of and large a lot of FTX supporters. The only other time — I believe I met him two or 3 times — the only other time I shared a stage with him was once as soon as in the again of closed doors, so I received’t say a great deal of about it. On the other hand I will be able to be in a position to let you know moreover, I used to be talking about govt and there were some awkward moments where he was once as soon as saying, oh, I used to be now now not registering,” she mentioned.
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 21: (L-R) TechCrunch Not unusual Manager & Editor-In-Chief Connie Loizos and Haun Ventures Founder & CEO Katie Haun communicate onstage far and wide TechCrunch Disrupt 2023 at Moscone Center on September 21, 2023 in San Francisco, California. Image Credit score: Kimberly White/Getty Footage for TechCrunch