Crypto Billionaire Takes on Venezuela's Oil Industry

Crypto billionaire Fred Ehrsam has taken a bold step into Venezuela's oil industry. He and his co-founder, Manuel Iribarren, have been in Caracas since February, building connections and assembling teams to help them secure investments.

Ehrsam, 38, is not an oil expert, but he does have experience with complex deals. He co-founded crypto exchange Coinbase in 2012 after leaving Goldman Sachs and later formed crypto investment firm Paradigm in 2018. His net worth is around $2.4 billion, according to Forbes.

The duo has secured production-sharing contracts with Petróleos de Venezuela (PdVSA) for the Budare oil block. They're working to tap into lighter crude oil fields and plan to 'bring clean, reliable, and low-cost energy' to the country. Iribarren stated that they aim to use local industry and develop Venezuelan workers.

Petroleum experts are skeptical about Primavera's chances of success. Francisco Monaldi from the Baker Institute noted that oil contracts usually go to companies with a proven track record, not startups.