Coinbase's Head Of Capital Markets Resigns After Crypto Exchange Reportedly Shifts Focus

Brett Redfearn, who headed capital markets at Coinbase Global Inc COIN, has resigned from his position at the crypto exchange.

What Happened: According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, people familiar with the matter disclosed that his reasons for leaving Coinbase had to do with the crypto-exchange shifting its focus away from digital asset securities.

Redfearn was one of Coinbase’s most high-profile hires, having served as the former director of trading and markets at the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) before joining the crypto exchange.

The executive joined Coinbase’s ranks just two weeks before the exchange’s public listing.

A blog post from Coinbase’s Chief Product Officer Surojit Chatterjee in March described Redfearn’s role at the company as the person responsible for defining and driving a vision and strategy to set the global standard for crypto capital markets, including digital asset securities and its crypto trading platform.

“I believe that a digitized trading ecosystem can help democratize retail investors’ ability to access our capital markets on a fair and level playing field. I also believe that instantaneous settlement will eventually be possible, which could ameliorate capital requirements and improve market liquidity,” said Redfearn at the time.

Now, in just four months since he assumed the role of Vice President of Capital Markets at Coinbase, Redfearn appears to have resigned.

Price Action: Coinbase shares were trading 5.16% lower, at $2650.47 at press time.

Shares of the crypto exchange moved in tandem with crypto markets that reached $1.9 trillion for the first time since prices crashed in May.

At press time, the market-leading cryptocurrency Bitcoin BTC/USD traded at $45,410, gaining as much as 17.84% over the past week.

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