Coinbase, America’s largest cryptocurrency platform, continues to cherry pick Wall Street as it acquires another top level executive from the New York Stock Exchange.
Coinbase Attracts Another Wall Street Executive
Business Insider has reported that former global head of sales for NYSE Euronext desk Christine Sandler has joined Coinbase as it’s director of institutional sales.
The executive who was until recently the head of equity electronic sales at Barclays will report to Adam White the general manager of GDAX, Coinbase’s institutional-grade exchange platform.
Coinbase has been working to attract institutional business in cryptocurrency from Wall Street firms by offering services through its GDAX exchange since 2014. Looking to expand that base they are now launching Coinbase Custody.
The service will offer the same level of security as custody banks with additional services, such as:
- Dedicated account representatives and phone support
- Multi-user accounts with separate permissions
- Insurance (in some cases)
The Coinbase Custody service will be aimed at institutional clients with at least $10 million in deposits and will charge a $100,000 startup plus monthly fees based on assets.
Coinbase Looking to Hire New Executives
Sandler is not the first Wall Street veteran Coinbase has poached to reinforce its institutional sales team. In early March Eric Scro joined the San Francisco company as its vice president of finance. Also previously with the NYSE Scro was the head of finance and had been the exchange operator since 2009.
Coinbase released a statement at the time which read “Eric will be focused on helping serve institutional clients and deal with the increasingly complex financial and regulatory requirements of the business.”
At the height of the 2017 cryptocurrency market boom Coinbase hired Asiff Hirji away from Ameritrade to act as it’s chief operating officer (COO). Hirji told Fortune magazine at the time of his hire
“This is no longer a fringe thing just for fan boys … The Wall Street crowd and traditional old guard in the financial world are jumping in as well.”
Coinbase General Manager Dan Romero acknowledges that the company is scaling up to meet future demands from the institutional market. As reported by Business Insider Romero said Coinbase is looking to hire “a bunch of different executives at the company,” and that they are planning to double their staff from 250 to 500 in 2018.
Part of the reasons Coinbase may be focused on hiring executives from Wall Street is to deal with the strict regulatory conditions of acting as an crytpocurrency exchange in New York where the majority of the country’s institutional investors are found.
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