Earn.com is a company.
Earn.com has raised $125.0M across 2 funding rounds.
Key people at Earn.com.
Earn.com was founded by Balaji Srinivasan (CEO and Cofounder).
Earn.com has raised $125.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
Key people at Earn.com.
Earn.com was founded by Balaji Srinivasan (CEO and Cofounder).
Earn.com has raised $125.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
Earn.com's investors include 9Yards Capital, Kevin Hartz, Accel, Acrew Capital, Addition, Adverb Ventures, AME Cloud Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Audrey Capital, Benchmark, Benchstrength, Blitzscaling Ventures.
Earn.com was a blockchain-based platform that enabled users to earn bitcoin by responding to paid emails, completing microtasks, and providing feedback, primarily targeting individuals seeking supplemental income and companies needing targeted outreach.[1][2][4] It served a global user base of hundreds of thousands, solving the problem of spam and low-response commercial emails by introducing financial incentives via cryptocurrency, while also facilitating ICO token airdrops and surveys.[2][4] Founded in 2017 in San Francisco with 50-200 employees and over $120 million in funding from top VCs like Founders Fund, Andreessen Horowitz, and Khosla Ventures, Earn.com achieved profitability at an eight-figure annual revenue run rate before its acquisition by Coinbase in 2018 for more than $120 million.[1][2]
Earn.com originated from the ashes of 21E6 (later 21 Inc.), a secretive bitcoin mining operation launched in 2013 that raised over $100 million but faltered amid falling bitcoin prices and high operational costs.[2] Balaji Srinivasan, an initial co-founder and former Andreessen Horowitz partner, returned as CEO in 2015 alongside CFO Lily Liu when the company had less than a year of runway, pivoting it from mining to a paid-email service renamed Earn.com in 2017.[1][2] Other founders included Veerbhan Kheterpal, Matt Pauker, Nigel Drego, and Daniel Firu.[1] Early traction came from its profitable model, user growth to hundreds of thousands, and expansions into task-based incentives and ICO airdrops, culminating in the 2018 Coinbase acquisition where Srinivasan became Coinbase's first CTO.[2][4]
Earn.com rode the 2017-2018 crypto boom, capitalizing on bitcoin's rise and ICO hype by creating practical blockchain utility beyond speculation—paid communications and microtasks that demonstrated real-world scale.[2][4] Its timing aligned with growing frustration over email spam and the need for incentivized digital labor, amplified by market forces like crypto's accessibility via apps and VC influx into fintech.[1][2] The Coinbase acquisition integrated its talent and tech into a major exchange, influencing the ecosystem by accelerating blockchain adoption in everyday tools and validating pivots from mining to services, while foreshadowing token economies for work.[2][4][6]
Post-2018 acquisition, Earn.com's standalone product ceased as its team and IP folded into Coinbase, enhancing the exchange's blockchain innovation under Balaji Srinivasan (who later departed).[2][3][4] Its legacy endures in Coinbase's evolution toward practical crypto apps, with trends like AI-driven tasks, Web3 gig economies, and tokenized incentives likely amplifying similar models. As crypto matures, Earn.com's proof-of-scale for paid digital interactions positions its influence to evolve through Coinbase's global reach, potentially inspiring borderless work platforms amid rising remote and creator economies. This pivot from mining distress to acquisition success underscores adaptive blockchain entrepreneurship.
Earn.com has raised $125.0M across 2 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $120.0M Series B in March 2015.