Frederick 'Fred' Ernest Ehrsam III is an American entrepreneur, the self-made billionaire co-founder of the largest U.S. cryptocurrency company, Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN), and the investment firm Paradigm. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1988, his background is characterized by a strong interest in technology and gaming; he played video games professionally in high school, which introduced him to the concept of in-game digital currencies.

Ehrsam graduated with distinction from Duke University in 2010, earning a B.S. in Computer Science and Economics. His career began as a foreign exchange trader at Goldman Sachs in New York City. He discovered Bitcoin in 2011 from a Georgetown University professor's paper and began trading it in his free time, recognizing the immense, untapped potential of digital assets to revolutionize finance.

Fred Ehrsam met his co-founder, Brian Armstrong, on the Bitcoin subreddit forum. In 2012, they co-founded Coinbase in an apartment in San Francisco, aiming to make cryptocurrencies accessible to the masses. Ehrsam served as Coinbase's first President (until 2017), guiding its early product development and strategic growth. He remains on the board of Coinbase (which executed its successful IPO in 2021) and holds an estimated 8.9 percent stake in the company's stock.

In 2018, Ehrsam founded the venture investment firm Paradigm (where he is a General Partner), focusing on the next generation of crypto talent and decentralized finance (DeFi). His wealth is secured by his massive equity stake in Coinbase and his successful pivot into the high-stakes venture capital sector. He is a prominent voice in crypto policy and market analysis, often speaking on Surviving Crypto Cycles and the future of NFTs.

Fred Ehrsam's social impact is structural, stemming from Coinbase's role in democratizing access to cryptocurrency for millions of global users. His work through Paradigm funds the next generation of essential decentralized finance (DeFi) and Web3 technologies.

He is a strong supporter of Effective Altruism (EA) and channels his giving toward high-impact causes. His career provides an inspirational narrative of a finance professional who successfully leveraged early insight into blockchain technology to build a global financial giant.

Fred Ehrsam maintains the casual, high-IQ style of a technology founder. His attire is consistently pragmatic and unostentatious, favoring simple shirts and jackets. His aesthetic is one of stability and intellectual authority, reflecting his engineering and economic background.

Residing in the U.S., his luxury is the immense security and financial reward derived from his multi-billion dollar fortune. His life is dedicated to leveraging his capital for high-impact technology and financial innovation in the rapidly evolving crypto landscape.