• Coinbase’s Head of Exchange, Vishal Gupta, is leaving the company to pursue a new project in the crypto space.
• Before joining Coinbase, Gupta was the head of USD Coin for stablecoin issuer Circle.
• Coinbase has become the subject of increased regulatory scrutiny from watchdogs as they step up their crypto policing efforts.
Vishal Gupta Leaves Coinbase
Coinbase’s Head of Exchange, Vishal Gupta, is leaving the company to pursue a new project in the crypto space. A veteran of Goldman Sachs and former senior director of product management at Coinbase, Gupta plans to remain in the crypto space but intends to exit from the exchange. He took to Twitter to share his news and thanked everyone he worked with during his time at Coinbase.
Gupta’s Background
Before joining Coinbase, Gupta was the head of USD Coin for stablecoin issuer Circle. During his time there, he helped launch USDC which has since become an industry standard.
Regulatory Scrutiny for Coinbase
The largest crypto exchange in the US has become subject to increased regulatory scrutiny as watchdogs step up their crypto policing efforts. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) served Coinbase with a Wells Notice over an unspecified portion of its listed digital assets and services such as staking service Coinbase Earn, Prime and Wallet. Despite this action by SEC which calls it “unfair and unreasonable”; Coinbases welcome clarity on court if necessary claiming that rulemaking or legislation are better tools than enforcement actions for defining law for its industry.
Conclusion
Vishal Gupta is leaving his post at Coinbase after 2 years with plans to work on a new project while remaining in the cryptocurrency space. Meanwhile, Coinbase faces increasing regulatory pressure from authorities who have served them with a Wells Notice over some aspects of their business model and services offered by them.