Joey Krug is an American developer and investor best known for co-founding Augur, one of the earliest decentralized prediction market protocols, and for his current role as a Partner at Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, following six years as co-chief investment officer at Pantera Capital.
Who Is Joey Krug?
Joey Krug started programming in Applesoft BASIC during middle school after his father bought him an Apple II GS on eBay, an early exposure to coding that shaped his later career.
He studied Computer Science at Pomona College from 2013 to 2014 but did not complete his degree, choosing instead to pursue entrepreneurial projects directly. He began exploring Bitcoin mining in 2011 while building vintage hardware with his father.
For profiles of other builders shaping the Web3 industry, visit our crypto personalities page.
Joey Krug’s Career and Contributions
Before moving fully into blockchain, Krug built a Bitcoin point-of-sale payment system in 2013, then briefly worked as a game developer at Dark Paradise Studios before founding MariPoS, a sound-based point-of-sale payment system in 2014.
In the same year, at age 19, Krug co-founded the Forecast Foundation, the organization behind Augur, a decentralized prediction market protocol built on Ethereum that lets users bet on real-world event outcomes using blockchain technology.
Augur’s 2015 initial coin offering raised $5.7 million, and the protocol reportedly reached a market valuation of over $150 million in 2021. Krug also co-founded Beam.io, a cryptocurrency project inspired by traditional currencies.
Krug joined Pantera Capital in 2017 as co-chief investment officer and departed in February 2023 after a six-year stint. During his time there, he led investments in early institutional rounds for companies including Starkware, Arbitrum, and Alchemy.
Krug joined Founders Fund as a Partner in April 2023, as announced in a Twitter post where he wrote: “I’ll be focused on defining the next decade of Founders Fund’s crypto strategy while looking for the next wave of generational crypto startups and founders to back.”
Beyond Founders Fund, Krug co-founded Eco, a platform for spending, saving, and sending money using blockchain technology. He has held advisory roles at several projects, including 0x, Numeraire, and Codex Protocol, and served as a Founding Board Member at Augment Partners from 2016 to 2018. He is a Thiel Fellow and an Edmund Hillary Fellow, began angel investing in 2016, and co-founded a top-ranked AngelList Syndicate.
Joey Krug’s Views and Positions
Krug has described his interest in technology as rooted in the ability to translate ideas directly into working code, a philosophy that runs from his early hobbyist programming through his prediction market and payments work.
At Founders Fund, he has framed his mandate as identifying the next generation of notable crypto founders and startups rather than following existing market narratives. Beyond his investing work, he remains an active contributor to Pyethereum and participates in the Founders Pledge, a global community of entrepreneurs committed to philanthropic giving.
Readers interested in how decentralized applications like Augur fit into the broader DeFi landscape can find context in our coverage of DeFi adoption growth.
Joey Krug’s Net Worth in 2026
Joey Krug’s net worth is estimated at $10 million, tied to his Augur ICO proceeds and token holdings, his compensation during six years at Pantera Capital, his stake in Eco, his angel investments, and his current role at Founders Fund. Because no independent wealth-tracking source confirms this figure, it should be treated as a single-source estimate rather than a verified number.
Frequently Asked Questions
Need a refresher? Here are the questions readers most often ask about Joey Krug.
What is Joey Krug’s net worth?
Joey Krug’s net worth is estimated at $10 million, tied to his Augur holdings, his years at Pantera Capital, and his current role at Founders Fund. No other source reviewed for this profile independently confirms this figure.
What is Augur and what was Joey Krug’s role in it?
Augur is a decentralized prediction market protocol built on Ethereum that lets users bet on real-world event outcomes using blockchain technology. Joey Krug co-founded the Forecast Foundation, the organization behind Augur’s development, in 2014 at age 19, and the protocol’s 2015 ICO raised $5.7 million.
Why did Joey Krug leave Pantera Capital?
Krug departed Pantera Capital in February 2023 after a six-year stint as co-chief investment officer. He joined Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund as a Partner the following April, focusing on the firm’s crypto investment strategy.
What is Eco?
Eco is a platform co-founded by Joey Krug that lets users spend, save, and send money using blockchain technology, functioning like a digital wallet built on crypto infrastructure.
What has Joey Krug invested in through Founders Fund?
Krug’s 2024 investments through Founders Fund included Lava, Citrea, Caldera, Sentient, Avail, Polymarket, and Lagrange Labs, with deal sizes ranging from $10 million to $85 million per deal. He backs Web3 and broader crypto ventures from seed through Series B rounds.
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