For all the excitement it has built over the last few years, the volatility of Bitcoin has frightened off scads of investors and attracted the ire of regulatory bodies around the world. For all the ups and downs, though, one organization has begun 2022 having ridden the crypto wave to incredible new highs: crypto exchange darling and newly publicly traded company Coinbase.
Only a few years ago, Coinbase was valued at $8 billion. Now, it is the nation’s most popular crypto exchange, set a new record for a direct listing on the Nasdaq, and reached a market cap of $70 billion at the end of 2021.
This degree of growth is even more impressive when one considers the considerable setbacks faced by cryptocurrencies over the last few years. Between the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, China’s ban on crypto mining, and the ever-increasing risk of a rate hike from the Federal Reserve, alarm bells are ringing that some worry may finally spell the end of the crypto era.
What explains Coinbase’s remarkable growth in such a shaky financial landscape? Industry experts point to the company’s savvy leadership, particularly President and COO Emilie Choi. Choi has led Coinbase’s mergers and acquisitions strategy since joining the company in 2018, and has picked up firms like Tagomi that provide products and services essential to the continued proliferation of crypto.
