Olaf Carlson-Wee

Olaf Carlson-Wee is an American cryptocurrency technology entrepreneur who started one of the first cryptocurrency hedge funds, Polychain Capital.

Olaf was born and raised in the state of Minnesota, where he grew up near the border of Fargo, North Dakota.

Education

After high school, Olaf attended Vassar College where he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology. Toward the latter end of his academic career, he worked on his senior honors thesis based on Bitcoin. At the time (circa 2011/2012), not a lot of research was done in academia surrounding cryptocurrency and Bitcoin.

Career

Olaf has garnered the attention of Silicon Valley and beyond as an entrepreneur for his expertise and insight into the field of blockchain technologies and the cryptocurrency world

Coinbase

After he graduated from Vassar, his thesis caught the eye of several people, and he went on to join the co-founders of Coinbase as the Head of Risk and Product Manager for several years. He was the first Coinbase employee.

Polychain Capital

In July 2016, Olaf set off to start his own hedge fund to manage digital assets. The fund has received more than $200 million from Andreessen Horowitz, Abstract Ventures, Alexander Pack, Pantera Capital, and Union Square Ventures.