Profile of Kathryn Haun, a former prosecutor who created US' first federal “digital currency task force” and now an a16z partner investing in crypto startups
Robert Hackett / Fortune : Tweets: @rhhackett and @katie_haun Tweets: Robert Hackett / @rhhackett : I traveled to Mexico City to bring you my latest feature: a profile of @katie_haun for @FortuneMagazine's Most Powerful Women issue. She is.. - a badass ex-federal prosecutor - an unconventional “crypto” VC - 1st female general partner @a16z, & much more http://fortune.com/... Kathryn Haun / @katie_haun : Honored to be part of an issue full of so many amazing people - thanks @rhhackett!! http://twitter.com/...
Context & Ripple Effects
This 2018 Fortune profile is the origin point of an arc the coverage has tracked for years: Kathryn Haun, the former prosecutor who built the Justice Department's first federal digital currency task force, joins Andreessen Horowitz as its first female general partner and starts deploying that enforcement-side expertise into crypto bets. A year later she was co-heading a16z's $350M cryptocurrency fund, with deals that would come to include Coinbase and OpenSea.
The throughline matters because Haun didn't stay a partner: her 2021 departure to found Haun Ventures turned the prosecutor-turned-VC template into a standalone firm, one that later raised a $1.5B crypto fund and by 2026 had pulled in $1B across two funds spanning early and growth stages.
First-order effects
- a16z gains a credibility asset its crypto competitors lack: a general partner whose DOJ task-force work means portfolio companies get regulatory navigation, not just capital.
Second-order effects
- Rival crypto funds face pressure to recruit their own enforcement and policy veterans, turning regulatory expertise into a hiring battleground rather than an outside advisory cost.
Third-order effects
- The revolving door between federal crypto enforcement and venture capital becomes institutionalized — Haun's own firm scaling to billion-dollar raises shows the model is durable enough to outlive any single fund cycle.
The trend: Crypto venture capital is being reshaped by a prosecutor-to-investor pipeline, with former regulators becoming the people who decide which blockchain startups get funded.