By
Godfrey Benjamin
April 23rd, 2024
The former Facebook executive will provide oversight for the global brand.
Coinbase has hired former Facebook executive Kate Rouch to boost marketing efforts. The hiring continues Coinbase’s staffing changes in 2021. It also comes after the cryptocurrency exchange announced its commitment to increasing its budgetary allocation to between 12 and 15% of its net revenue. This announcement was made at the Q1 2021 earnings call.
Why Coinbase Decided to Hire a Former Facebook Executive
In her immediate past position, Kate Rouch served as the Global Head of Brand and Product Marketing for Facebook. She was responsible for coordinating marketing for Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp. Her 11-year stint with the social media giant, saw the number of monthly active users on Facebook leap from 500 million to about 3 billion worldwide.
Coinbase reportedly has a customer base of 68 million and 8 million monthly transacting users. The company hopes to leverage Rouch’s experience and expertise to drive even more growth.
In a statement made via a Thursday blog post, Coinbase Chief Operating Officer, Emile Choi, announced the appointment of Rouch as the exchange’s new chief marketing officer. Per the announcement, the former Facebook executive will provide oversight for the global brand. She will also be responsible for product and performance marketing.
Commenting on her appointment, Rouch expressed delight about the information she has gathered about cryptocurrency and the ecosystem that powers it. She said, “At its core, Coinbase is about creating more economic freedom for people. It is a mission I feel passionately about. I can’t wait to get started helping to introduce millions more people to the benefits of crypto.”
The Necessity for Experts
With the Total Addressable Market still exceedingly greater than the users of digital currencies, there is a need for firms offering crypto-related services to step up their game to reach a wider audience. The onboarding of experts is one such effort needed.
Earlier in the year, Coinbase hired Faryar Shirzad, former co-chief of Government Affairs at Goldman Sachs as its Chief Policy Officer. Former Google Play engineering lead, Pankaj Gupta was also onboarded in line with the firm’s plans to expand operations in India.
Beyond Coinbase, Binance has also made similar hiring to boost regulatory compliance and policy-making after several regulatory issues. The firm appointed former OCC chief, Rian Brooks as CEO of its US subsidiary, and hired two former FATF executives as government advisors. The company’s Chief Executive Officer Changpeng Zhao has also indicated he does not mind stepping down to employ a more suitable candidate with regulatory experience.