Coinbase Hires New President and CEO as Competition Stiffens with CME Entrance
Coinbase, one of the largest Bitcoin exchanges in the world which was recently valuated at $1.6 billion, has even bigger milestones in sight, and has hired 51-year-old Asiff Hirji to take it ahead as the new President and Chief Operating Officer.
Hirji, who is a former Hewlett Packard executive and an advisor at venture-capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, is taking the helm at a critical time, as Coinbase contends with a major influx of new customers, mainstream Bitcoin hype and new, more powerful competitors.
Commenting on the development, Coinbase co-founder Brian Armstrong said:
“It’s a huge hire for us. This is going to give us a ton of leverage to grow our existing businesses.”
It wouldn’t be wrong to say that Coinbase has played a major role in Bitcoin’s popularity in the United States and other countries it supports, acting as a reliable fiat gateway for those who want to enter the world of crypto.
However, the increasing demand for cryptocurrencies has proven to be challenging - as Bitcoin went through the roof this week, crossing $10,000 before peaking at around $11,400, Coinbase’s infrastructure was unable to keep up and the service had to be suspended temporarily.
Speaking about the increasing volume, the newly appointed President and CEO said:
“We’ve seen some of our highest trading days ever in the last few days. 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.”
The massive surge in price and volume shows increasing demand for cryptocurrencies, and given how the Chicago Mercantile Exchange group got the green light from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for launching Bitcoin futures, the influx of institutional money into the crypto market is no longer in doubt.
This essentially means that Coinbase, which has, up until now, enjoyed being one of the top choices for investors wanting in on Bitcoin action, will now have to compete against the likes of CME, CBOE and other brokers who bring traditional market experience and potentially big money to the game.
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