Katie Haun told a16z crypto's team on December 15, 2021, that she would launch her own crypto and web3 fund early the following year. The announcement closed out four years as a general partner at the firm. “Today Chris Dixon and I shared with the a16z crypto team that I will be launching my own fund focused on crypto and web3 early next year. The current crypto fund will be my last at the firm,” Haun wrote on what was then Twitter1. CoinDesk reported on December 15, 2021, that Axios had broken the news first. A small group of a16z staffers would join Haun's new firm. Crypto marketing head Rachael Horwitz was one of them, though every member of the investing team stayed put at a16z2.
Nine executive exits on the record in 2021
Executive exits CryptoLately has verified, by year
- 2021: 9
- 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
Moves: The Moves Ledger, CryptoLately's record of verified leadership moves, Oct. 3, 2016 to Oct. 2, 2026.
Read the chart as a table
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| 2018 | 2 |
| 2019 | 6 |
| 2020 | 1 |
| 2021 | 9 |
| 2022 | 9 |
| 2023 | 8 |
| 2024 | 11 |
| 2025 | 20 |
Capital Markets & Treasury led executive exits in 2021, with two
Executive exits CryptoLately has verified in 2021, by the sector of the company
- Capital Markets & Treasury: 2
- Bitcoin & Mining, DeFi Protocols
Moves: The Moves Ledger, CryptoLately's record of verified leadership moves, Oct. 3, 2016 to Oct. 2, 2026.
Read the chart as a table
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Capital Markets & Treasury | 2 |
| Bitcoin & Mining | 1 |
| DeFi Protocols | 1 |
The move
Haun framed the decision as a continuation of the bet she and Dixon placed in 2018. “When Chris and I started our first crypto fund in 2018, it was a moonshot experiment. Thanks to the hard work of many, it has exceeded both of our wildest expectations,” she wrote, adding that “today it's more apparent than ever that web3 will transform the internet”1. A16z told CoinDesk in an emailed statement that Haun “led some of the most consequential crypto team deals including Coinbase, OpenSea (Series A and B), Celo, Arweave, and Royal”2.
She kept ties to two of those deals on her way out. CoinDesk reported she would retain her board seats at Coinbase and OpenSea after she left2. The timing came months after a16z had raised $2.2 billion for its third dedicated crypto fund, a fund CoinDesk said had already deployed a bevy of investments. Haun had spent her earlier career as a federal prosecutor at the Justice Department. She sat on Coinbase's board before that record helped make her, in CoinDesk's words, "a prominent name in crypto investing".
Before and after at a16z crypto
Haun ran a16z's crypto deals for four years, working alongside Dixon on the fund the two had started in 201812. December 15, 2021, split that partnership in two. A16z crypto continued under Dixon alone, and Haun began building a separate firm, Haun Ventures, that would compete with her former employer for the same deals.
What came next
Haun Ventures raised $1.5 billion in 2022, ahead of the downturn that followed across crypto markets, according to The Block3. By May 4, 2026, the firm announced another $1 billion raise, split between early and later-stage funds. The Block reported Haun Ventures would deploy it over the next two to three years into crypto firms and a “mix of startups that blend financial services, artificial intelligence and alternative assets”. Fireblocks, Chainalysis and Aptos Labs sit among Haun's portfolio companies, by The Block's count. Haun Ventures had also just joined an $18 million round for Squads, a startup building the stablecoin platform Altitude, The Block reported.
Sources
- Katie Haun, post on leaving a16z crypto to start her own fund, X, December 15, 2021, https://x.com/katie_haun/status/1471197349456519168
- Brandy Betz, "Katie Haun Leaving A16z to Start Own Crypto VC Firm," CoinDesk, December 15, 2021, https://www.coindesk.com/business/2021/12/15/katie-haun-leaving-a16z-to-start-own-crypto-vc-firm
- RT Watson, "Crypto VC Haun Ventures raises $1 billion for funds investing in blockchain and AI," The Block, May 4, 2026, https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMivwFBVV95cUxNOTVIaDNxYnlzb05jQVA3Mjh1TGdVS0VMeWFWaEVlWE9yaVpMc3plb3d2eUFjbzNmeG9RNk9BU0lmYmRpbTdiM000OFdENGY3UkYtU3RabHNLQ3J1NS1GU3c4dnU3VzFtcUp0TVRiVXdYZTd5S2pTUW9aTzM2NHkyWHlyZ1p5VzdUeEJzcTk1ZkYtci1PWlRrSFhRTjl5eHA2TTNhbUtSSXBIcmhIaTlGM2h5ekZOMjZ0X1ItaTk2cw?oc=5