Former British Finance Minister George Osborne Joins Coinbase Advisory Board

JAKARTA - Former UK Finance Minister George Osborne has joined the advisory board of Coinbase Global. This was announced by the crypto exchange company on Wednesday, January 31. This step was taken in Coinbase's efforts to grow internationally amid regulatory pressure in the United States.

Osborne, 52, served as finance minister from 2010 to losing his job after a Brexit referendum in 2016. After that, he became the editor of a newspaper in London and is currently a partner in the Aboutique investment bank Robey Warshaw, and serves as Chairman of the British Museum.

"The world of finance is currently experiencing very interesting innovations. Blockchain is changing financial markets and online transactions. Coinbase is at the forefront of this development," Osborne said in a statement.

Faryar Shirzad, Chief Policy Officer at Coinbase, stated that the company will rely on Osborne's "intentions and experiences as we develop Coinbase around the world."

Coinbase, the world's largest publicly traded crypto exchange, has been complained by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on charges of violating applicable rules. In June, the SEC stated that the company facilitated trading of at least 13 crypto tokens, including Solana, Cardano, and Polygon, which should have been registered as securities.

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Coinbase insists that crypto assets, unlike stocks and bonds, do not meet the definition of an investment contract, the position held by most of the crypto industry. The company has asked the United States court to reject the lawsuit, with trials scheduled for January.

Coinbase continues to expand its presence internationally and recently obtained a number of licenses to operate digital currency services overseas, including in France in December, as well as in Spain, Singapore, andung.

Founded in 2012, Coinbase went public in 2021 but has since lost more than half of its value.