Coinbase announced on April 1 that it hired a top Morgan Stanley lawyer to join its team. Ian Rooney, who previously worked on Wall Street as a top global anti-money laundering specialist, will be joining Coinbase to head its enterprise compliance department. With any luck, this new acquisition will help ensure a smooth run-up to the exchange’s upcoming listing later this month.
Why there so many high-profile crypto hires
Over the past few months, cryptocurrency companies have managed to make some remarkably high-profile hires. A few days ago, Coinbase hired former SEC official Brett Redfearn to head the exchange’s new capital markets division. During Redfearn’s time at the agency, he spearheaded a team of over 250 staff members that focused specifically on the cryptocurrency markets.
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Binance also made news when it snagged former U.S. Senator and Ambassador to China Max Baucus, who will fulfill a strategic adviser role for the cryptocurrency exchange. It might be the most prestigious hire made by a cryptocurrency company to date.
Max Baucus
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It’s definitely a good sign for the industry, especially since no one wanted to touch this sector a few years ago when it hardly was mainstream. Currently, even institutional investors are jumping at the chance to buy into crypto. Investment banks like Goldman Sachs are offering crypto-related products to their clients. While the SEC hasn’t approved any direct crypto-holding ETFs, we’ve seen new Bitcoin-based ETFs pop up in the Canadian capital markets instead.
As regulators and cryptocurrency companies continue to work hand in hand, with the latter hiring employees from the former, expect the legal situation for cryptocurrencies and crypto exchanges to continue to get better.