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00:00SEQUOIA CAPITAL, WHICH RECENTLY LAUNCHED A NEW FUND. MICHELLE, THANK YOU FOR JOINING US. OF COURSE SEQUOIA ISN ' T NEW TO CRYPTO INVESTING BUT THIS IS THE FIRST TIME YOU HAVE LAUNCHED A SECTOR SPECIFIC FUND. WHY AND WHY NOW? > > THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME, IT ' S GREAT TO BE THERE. WE HAVE BEEN INVESTING IN CRYPTO FOR SEVERAL YEARS AND IN GETTING FEEDBACK FROM THE FOUNDERS ABOUT THE BEST PRODUCTS TO SERVE THEM, IT SERVES VERY WELL WITH GROWTH PRODUCTS ALL THE WAY TO IPO WHERE WE CAN DO MORE FOR TOKEN-BASED CRYPTO COMPANIES AND THE NEW FUND ALLOWS US TO TAKE A MORE ACTIVE MANAGEMENT ROLE WITH THE LIQUID TOKEN COMPLEMENTING BROADER EFFORTS AND WE THOUGHT IT WAS A GREAT TIME DRIVEN BY FEEDBACK FROM THE FOUNDER BECAUSE CRYPTO IS AT SUCH AN INFLECTION POINT IN TERMS OF USERS AND TALENT ENTERING THE SPACE AND WE THINK WE ARE AT THE BEGINNING OF A CURVE THAT WILL SEE A PICKUP DRAMATICALLY OVER THE NEXT DECADE. EMILY: SEQUOIA HAS INVESTED IN BITCOIN AND OTHER COMPANIES LIKE STX. WHEN IT COMES TO THE TOKEN SIDE, WHAT ARE TOKENS AND BLOCKED CHAINS THAT YOU FIND INTERESTING? > > WE WATCHED THE DEVELOPER MOMENTUM ON EACH LAYER CLOSELY. IT WAS AN IMPORTANT SIGNAL FOR US. BITCOIN HAS A PARTICULAR KIND OF COMMUNITY AND USE CASE WITH LIGHTNING NETWORKS. IT ' S ONE OF THE COMPANIES WE ARE PRIVILEGED TO PARTNER WITH AND ARE VERY INVOLVED WITH. ON THE ETHEREUM TREMENDOUS APPLICATION WITH DECENTRALIZED FINANCE, AND FTS, WEB APPLICATIONS WITH DEVELOPERS PICKING UP ON NEWER CHAINS LIKE AVALANCHE. WE WATCH IT ALL CLOSELY AND THAT IS HOW WE DETERMINE WHERE WE WANT TO YOU KNOW -- OR SPEND TIME. EMILY: LAST YEAR 20% OF NEW SEQUOIA INVESTMENTS WERE IN CRYPTO. THAT ' S A REALLY BIG PART OF THE PIE FOR A LONG TIME MORE TRADITIONAL TECH VENTURE CAPITAL FIRM. DO YOU SEE THAT RISING INTO 2022? WILL IT COME A BIGGER PART OF THE SEQUOIA PORTFOLIO? > > I PERSONALLY DO, AS SOMEONE WHO SPENDS ON MY TIME IN CRYPTO THERE AREMORE AND MORE ENGINEERS DESIGNERS EXCITED ABOUT BUILDING IN ALL ASPECTS OF CRYPTO. THAT WILL ONLY INCREASE OVER TIME. WE HAVE A SAYING THAT CRYPTO WILL IMPACT THE FINANCIAL SECTOR AS WELL AS CONSUMER AND ENTERPRISE. WE EXPECT CRYPTO TO EVENTUALLY BE IN ALL THE SECTORS. I EXPECT EVERYONE INSECURITY TO EVENTUALLY BE A CRYPTO INVESTOR. EMILY: TELL US MORE ABOUT THE STRUCTURE. HOW ARE YOUR INVESTMENTS IN CRYPTO GOING TO BE DIFFERENT THAN WHAT WE HAVE SEEN SEQUOIA DO BEFORE? > > WHAT IS INTERESTING ABOUT INVESTING IN MORE TRADITIONAL EQUITY-BASED STARTUP ' S IS YOU GET A PIECE OF PAPER THAT SAYS YOU OWN A PORTION OF THE COMPANY, YET YOU DON ' T DO MUCH WITH THAT PIECE OF PAPER OVER THE NEXT YEARS. YOU HELP THE COMPANY GROW, BUT THE PIECE OF PAPER IS IRRELEVANT. IN CRYPTO, IT IS DIFFERENT IN THAT YOU ARE GETTING A TOKEN, YOU CAN USE THAT TO THE BENEFIT OF THE COMPANY OR THE PROJECT. WHAT WE CAN DO NOW MORE FLEXIBLY IS BE ABLE TO STAKE OUR TOKENS TO SECURE NETWORKS, WE CAN PROVIDE LIQUIDITY TO PROTOCOLS AND DO A LOT MORE ACTIVITY WITH OUR TOKENS THEN YOU WOULD WITH AN EQUITY. EMILY: WE HAVE SEEN A TON OF ACTIVITY IN THE CRYPTO SPACE. THE POWER OF CRYPTO TO BE ABLE TO SUPPORT EFFORTS -- WAR EFFORTS. CRYPTO BEING USED BY RUSSIANS WHO ARE FACING SANCTIONS TO SUIT -- SECOND THAT -- CIRCUMVENT THE SANCTIONS. WHERE IS THIS HEADED? > > WE ARE ALL HEARTBROKEN BY WHAT WE ' RE WATCHING. IT HITS VERY CLOSE TO HOME PRINTED SEQUOIA HAD UKRAINIANS, COMPANIES THAT HAVE EMPLOYEES IN UKRAINE. MANY USERS. IT IS SOMETHING THAT WE WATCH EVERY DAY AND OUR HEART GOES OUT TO ALL OF THEM AND WE DO WHAT WE CAN WE ARE REALLY PROUD OF THE WAY THAT ARE CRYPTO AND OTHER COMPANIES HAVE STEPPED UP TO SUPPORT THE EFFORTS. I WORK CLOSELY WITH SAM AND THE TEAM AT FTX. THEY HAVE GONE ABOVE AND BEYOND TO SUPPORT USERS ON THE PLATFORM AS WELL AS COMPLY WITH ALL SANCTIONS THAT THEY ARE VERY CAPABLE OF DOING. IT IS OFTEN A MISNOMER THAT CRYPTO CANNOT SUPPLY IT -- COMPLY WITH SANCTIONS. WE CAN. THERE OTHER COMPANIES -- AIRBNB HAS BEEN OFFERING HOUSING. FOLKS ARE DOING EVERYTHING THEY CAN TO SUPPORT UKRAINE AND COMPLY WITH ALL OF THE EFFORTS FOR SANCTIONS. EMILY: DO YOU LOOK AT CRYPTO CURRENCY A SAFE HAVEN OR A SAFER ASSET THAN TRADITIONAL ASSET? WE HAVE SEEN SOME THINGS WE WIPED AWAY, WE HAVE SEEN A LOT OF VOLATILITY. HOW SHOULD WE MAKE SENSE OF CRYPTO AS AN ASSET? > > WE ARE IN AN INTERESTING MOMENT WHERE DOUG GETS TAINTED BY INVESTORS WITH -- PAINTED WITH A BROAD BRUSH. WHEN THE WORLD COMES TO UNDERSTAND CRYPTO, WE WILL SEE THAT ASSETS ARE QUITE DIFFERENT. THE VOLATILITY THAT YOU SEE WITH BITCOIN OR WHAT YOU ' RE BUYING IS VERY DIFFERENT AND WHAT YOU ' RE BUYING WITH AN APPLICATION TOKEN OR ANY OTHER TYPE OF CRYPTO ASSET WHETHER IT ' S AN NFT ETC. YOU CAN LOOK AT THE VOLATILITY AND SAY IS BITCOIN TRADING MORE LIKE AN EQUITY OR A COMMODITY, HOW SHOULD IT TRADE? THE REALITY IS WE ARE EARLY AND

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Sequoia Capital Launches New Crypto Fund

Sequoia Capital Partner Michelle Bailhe joins Emily Chang to talk about their new crypto fund -- their first-ever sector-specific fund -- and how they plan to continue investing in the space. (Source: Bloomberg)

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