Tech
US Cryptocurrency Exchange Coinbase Adds Three Members to Board of Directors, Including OpenAI Executive
U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has added three new members to its board of directors, including an executive from ChatGPT maker OpenAI, as the firm steps up its efforts to influence U.S. cryptocurrency policy, Coinbase told Reuters on Thursday.
The new members are Chris Lehane, a member of OpenAI’s executive team; Paul Clement, a former U.S. attorney general under President George W. Bush; and Christa Davies, Aon’s chief financial officer and a member of the board of directors of Stripe and Workday. The additions will expand the board from seven to 10 members.
Coinbase’s move to expand its board of directors comes as the company and the broader cryptocurrency industry look to make the sector a major political force in this year’s presidential election. The sector’s fortunes could change if Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump retakes the White House in November.
Clement will advise Coinbase in its efforts to “counter SEC (US Securities and Exchange Commission) interference and fight for clear rules for digital assets.”
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Coinbase said Lehane, a former Airbnb policy chief and White House staffer during the Clinton administration, will provide strategic advice.
Davies will focus on Coinbase’s “global financial and operational excellence.”
Coinbase said the three members all have different political philosophies.
“For cryptocurrencies to succeed, they have to be bipartisan,” Lehane told Reuters in an interview on Thursday.
Stand With Crypto, a Coinbase-backed voter advocacy organization for cryptocurrency-holding voters, has garnered 1.3 million members.
Meanwhile, three major pro-cryptocurrency political action committees — Fairshake, Defend American Jobs, and Protect Progress, none of which existed before this cycle — have raised more than $230 million to support pro-crypto candidates.
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