Crypto Startup Coinbase Opens New York Office, Why Is Its Institutional Head Leaving?

It goes without saying that the crypto industry moves at a fast pace, with the cryptosphere’s leading startups continually undergoing drastic shifts in practice to fit the trends of the day or week. Despite its position in the industry, California-based Coinbase isn’t free from the aforementioned business practice, as the startup’s top brass have continually had to adapt to succeed in the ever-competitive crypto asset and blockchain market.

Coinbase Veteran And Institutional Head Jumps Ship

Just weeks ago, Coinbase, widely regarded as the golden child of crypto as a whole, divulged that it had successfully cut the ribbon for its New York office, which is slated to entice institutional investors to allocate capital and get involved with the cryptosphere. As revealed by Forbes Crypto’s Michael del Castillo, Adam White, the vice president and general manager of Coinbase’s institutional division, played a key role in the new location’s inaugural event, which occurred on September 15th of this year.

In a tweet storm, Castillo alluded to the fact that White spearheaded the establishment of the new office, located in the heart of America’s largest city, with the talented individual seemingly conveying Coinbase’s underlying vision and mission to event attendees.

Coinbase vice president @WhiteAdamL riffing on the @coinbase mission and the potential of public blockchains. Via @ForbesCrypto pic.twitter.com/iNVwwtWZYL

— Michael del Castillo (@DelRayMan) September 13, 2018

But now, the executive heading Coinbase’s institutional vision has unexpectedly exited the firm, reports Bloomberg in an exclusive piece. Speaking with Bloomberg, a company spokesperson explained that Coinbase was sad to see White leave, which adds up considering that the former executive was the startup’s fifth official hire. The spokesperson elaborated, writing:

“While we’re extremely sad to see him go, we’re also confident in that group’s ability to keep executing on the vision that he laid out to be the most trusted venue for institutional investors to trade cryptocurrencies.”

Although it isn’t clear what White’s plans entail, as the details have been kept largely behind closed doors, his impact on the firm, which has swelled to become a crypto superpower set to be valued at $8 billion, runs deep without a doubt. While Coinbase may be “extremely sad,” it has already made moves to put a band-aid over its cut, hiring former Instinet CEO Jonathan Kellner as White’s replacement. More specifically, Kellner, a well-respected innovator in his own right, will now be the managing director of Coinbase’s institutional arm.

What’s Next For Adam White?

White’s move to exit Coinbase comes amidst a legacy market brain drain, with well-established employees at LinkedIn, Amazon, Pershing Financial and more, jumping ship to set up shop in the cryptocurrency industry as Coinbase’s newest set of executives.

So why did Adam White leave amidst this talent surge?

Some pessimists claim that his exit indicates that he has lost faith and trust in crypto, but advocates for this up and coming technology beg to differ, as arguably, this industry is seeing more interest, adoption, and development than ever before in spite of the depressed prices. To these proponents, the answer seems obvious, as considering that White graduated with an MBA from Harvard Business and that he left Coinbase on good terms, it only makes sense that he has plans to launch a startup of his own creation and vision.

Due to the fact that a majority of his professional career was spent at Coinbase and that he didn’t show any overt hatred towards the goal he worked for or the industry he represented, it can be logically assumed that he intends to further his immersion in the cryptosphere.

It may sound like wishful thinking, but don’t be surprised if Adam White, Coinbase’s former executive, builds a crypto platform of his own in the upcoming months because you know what they say, “the proof is in the pudding.”

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