Coinbase taps ex-Goldman partner Liz Martin to lead markets and derivatives expansion

Liz Martin, a former partner at Goldman Sachs, has joined Coinbase as its new VP, Product, overseeing Markets and Derivatives. This move is part of the firm’s long-term strategy, which involves expanding the suite of services it offers to customers.

The company stated, “She will lead Coinbase’s exchanges, drive the next phase of growth for  the company’s derivatives business, and manage its global markets team – all key pillars of Coinbase’s ‘Everything Exchange’ strategy.”

Liz Martin to take up similar responsibilities as at Goldman Sachs

According to a statement, at Goldman Sachs, Liz Martin served as a partner in the global markets business, leading initiatives across trading, technology, and consumer finance, including as head of enterprise partnerships. She oversaw business development, operations, and product launches in credit cards, savings, and buy-now-pay-later offerings.

Liz Martin stated, “Derivatives sit at the center of every mature market, and Coinbase has an enormous opportunity to lead this space globally as crypto markets reach institutional scale.” 

Coinbase has previously revealed its goals to become an “everything exchange. “ That is a place where users can buy, sell, borrow, stake, spend, and earn all in one place—Coinbase plans to add forecast markets, tokenized stocks, and early-stage token sales.

As reported by Cryptopolitan, Armstrong stated that his long-term goal is to ensure that the platform offers the best services across the board, including a credit card that offers 4% Bitcoin rewards.

The Coinbase CEO criticized the current banking system. He mentioned that it is outdated and inefficient, pointing to the high transaction fees as one of the main pain points. “We want to become people’s primary financial account, and I think that crypto has a right to do that,” he added.

Coinbase acquired two founders of Sensible, a crypto yield-earning platform. Then last month, Benchmark’s Mark Palmer reiterated the firm’s “Buy” rating and $421 price target, saying Coinbase’s “everything exchange” strategy proved “powerfully levered to a crypto bull cycle.”

Coinbase plans to change its state of registration amidst expansions

In a Wednesday opinion piece in the WSJ, Coinbase’s chief legal officer, Paul Grewal, revealed that the crypto exchange is changing its state of registration from Delaware to Texas.

“Delaware’s legal framework once provided companies with consistency. But no more,” Grewal wrote. This move is similar to Musk’s move. Last year, Musk asked companies in Delaware to move. “If your company is still incorporated in Delaware, I recommend moving to another state as soon as possible,” Musk wrote in a post on X in February 2024.

Recent decisions from the Delaware Chancery Court have unsettled companies like Tesla by striking down compensation packages and allowing certain shareholder lawsuits to proceed. This has resulted in concerns about future liability. Additionally, Delaware’s annual franchise taxes are expensive, with some companies finding the cost to be a significant burden.

Coinbase has also launched Coinbase Business in Singapore for local small businesses and startups. As reported by Cryptopolitan, the exchange has partnered with Standard Chartered to offer real-time crypto trading and payment services in Singapore dollars for local businesses via the new platform.

Additionally, JPMorgan Chase is putting its coin, JPM Coin, backed by cash, on Coinbase’s layer 2 network, Base. The financial bank will first give JPM Coin to its institutional clients. Once regulators give the go-ahead, the offering will be opened up to more clients. 

The company recently reported $432.6 million in net income on $1.87 billion in revenue in Q3. Its earnings per share translated to $1.50. Much of that outperformance stemmed from brisk trading, as Coinbase broadened its lineup to include digital assets covering nearly 90% of the crypto market’s total value.  Meanwhile, its stock has declined over 13% in the last month, currently trading at $308.

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