Fred Ehrsam, the Coinbase co-founder turned crypto investor, is reportedly exploring investments in Venezuela as the sanctions-hit country tries to pull foreign capital back into its economy.
Bloomberg reported on May 14, citing sources familiar with the visits, that Ehrsam has made repeated trips to Caracas in recent months and met senior Venezuelan and U.S. officials, business executives and people close to the government. The talks have covered areas including oil and gas, fintech and digital payments, but they haven't produced any deals so far.
Earlier this week, Ehrsam reportedly appeared at an event hosted by Banco de Venezuela, the state-run bank, alongside its head Román Maniglia, a former finance vice minister.
Distressed markets attract investors for the same reason they scare everyone else. Assets can be cheap if the country reopens, oil output recovers and outside capital returns.
Venezuela recovery trade draws crypto interest
Venezuela's recovery story is also tied to debt. Reuters reported that the country has started restructuring sovereign and PDVSA debt, with total liabilities, including accrued interest, claims and arbitration awards, potentially above $150 billion. Venezuela has been in default since 2017.
Chainalysis ranked Venezuela 18th in its 2025 Global Crypto Adoption Index, with the country placing 13th for retail centralized-service value received and 15th for institutional centralized-service value received.
- Ehrsam has been away from Coinbase's daily business for years. He left his day-to-day role at the exchange in January 2017, saying Coinbase was doing well and that the industry had reached a point where it was feasible to build other ideas. He remained on the board and later co-founded Paradigm, the crypto investment firm, in 2018.