The former LinkedIn’s head of analytics and data science Michael Li has been hired as the VP of data, while Brian Brooks, a former executive at Fannie Mae, has become a new chief legal officer at Coinbase.
A leading digital currency exchange Coinbase is expanding its team. The exchange has recently welcomed former LinkedIn executive Michael Li as the VP of data and Brian Brooks, a former executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary at Fannie Mae, in the position of the Coinbase top attorney.
Coinbase hires Fannie Mae exec Brian Brooks as chief legal officer https://t.co/YK8eLjQMXq by @kateclarktweets pic.twitter.com/9thHPRqnzB
— TechCrunch (@TechCrunch) September 19, 2018
Proud to welcome @li_mike_yue to Coinbase as VP of Data. Mike will help create an open financial system for the world by leveraging existing technologies like machine learning and AI, and innovating around emerging crypto and blockchain data use cases. https://t.co/e0dNEBXVUS pic.twitter.com/tBiR9nywxN
— Coinbase (@coinbase) September 18, 2018
Coinbase hires new members of the staff as the cryptocurrency exchange grows its compliance and government affairs capabilities amid intensifying regulatory scrutiny of the nascent market.
Brian Brooks was an executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary of Fannie Mae, the U.S. mortgage finance company. He led the company’s legal department and government relations group, and was a senior advisor to the CEO and board of directors. Now the advantage of Brooks’ experience in the legal and regulatory field is taken by Coinbase. The company’s CEO Brian Armstrong said:
“His arrival is part of our effort to expand our legal, compliance and government affairs capabilities as we head into this next chapter for the company and the cryptocurrency industry as a whole.”
Previously, Coinbase’s legal function was led by Mike Lempres. The former chief legal and risk officer at Coinbase will now focus on growing the company’s government affairs program, take part in the Blockchain Association where Coinbase is a founding member, and manage the Political Action Committee founded by the exchange this summer.
Another newcomer at Coinbase is Michael Li, a former executive of Linkedin, a business and employment-oriented service operating via websites and mobile apps. Li started his career as Director of Business Analytics back in 2011. Since then, he has been growing his professional experience at the the business and employment-oriented company, working on business analytics and data science.
Li believes that there are “endless possibilities” for using data in the cryptocurrency and blockchain space. He stated that centralized data organization is a “strategic way to get the most value out of data for the company,” claiming that it is “still a new concept for many companies.” He said:
“I am thrilled by the opportunity to define and evolve the role data can play in a rapidly emerging space, combining an innovative mindset to solve new challenges with learnings from my past experience.”
Li further added:
“Data will be essential to empowering Coinbase’s mission, and core to company’s strategy to deliver the most trusted and easiest-to-use cryptocurrency products and services. I feel privileged to take on this challenging and rewarding new role to start the next chapter of my career.”
By the way, Li is not the first LinkedIn executive to join Coinbase. Back in March, Coinbase welcomed Emilie Choi to spearhead its acquisition efforts.
Recently, the exchange has opened a new office in New York. Currently, it involves 20 specialists, but over the course of 2019, additional 150 employees will be hired.
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