Joey Krug Joins Founders Fund as Partner to Lead Crypto Strategy

Joey Krug has taken on the role of Partner at Founders Fund, focusing on steering the investment firm's crypto strategy and backing emerging generational startups in the blockchain space. His appointment follows six years as co-chief investment officer at Pantera Capital, where he led early institutional investments in projects like Starkware, Arbitrum, and Alchemy.

Early Career and Contributions to Blockchain

Krug’s programming journey began in middle school with Applesoft BASIC on an Apple II GS. He briefly studied Computer Science at Pomona College before dedicating himself to entrepreneurial ventures. His early work included building a Bitcoin point-of-sale system in 2013 and founding MariPoS in 2014, a sound-based payment solution.

At age 19, he co-founded the Forecast Foundation behind Augur, one of the first decentralized prediction market protocols on Ethereum. Augur’s 2015 ICO raised $5.7 million, and by 2021, the protocol's market valuation surpassed $150 million. Krug also co-founded Beam.io, a cryptocurrency inspired by traditional currencies.

Investment and Advisory Roles

Joining Pantera Capital in 2017, Krug spent six years co-leading investments, focusing on early-stage crypto ventures that have since gained significant traction. His departure in February 2023 led to his current position at Founders Fund, announced via Twitter where he expressed his goal to define the next decade of their crypto initiatives.

Beyond investment roles, Krug co-founded Eco, a blockchain-based platform for spending and saving money. He has advised projects such as 0x, Numeraire, and Codex Protocol and was a founding board member at Augment Partners. Recognized as a Thiel Fellow and Edmund Hillary Fellow, he began angel investing in 2016 and co-founded a top-ranked AngelList Syndicate.

Krug emphasizes coding as a direct means of transforming ideas into reality, a principle that bridges his early programming to his work in decentralized markets and payments. At Founders Fund, his mandate centers on identifying crypto founders who will shape future market landscapes rather than following current trends.

This material is for informational purposes and does not constitute financial advice.