Coinbase hires former Goldman Sachs executive as chief policy officer

Crypto exchange Coinbase has hired former Goldman Sachs executive Faryar Shirzad as its chief policy officer, it announced Monday. He will begin the role at the end of June, a Coinbase spokesperson told The Block.

Shirzad spent the last 15 years at Goldman Sachs, leading the bank’s government affairs globally. At Coinbase, Shirzad will work with governments around the world on issues surrounding the cryptoeconomy.

Shirzad will “engage with lawmakers, regulators and other policy experts to realize crypto’s full potential to fuel a more equitable financial system along with job creation, GDP growth, and innovation,” said Coinbase.

Shirzad has held several government positions as well in the past, serving on the staff of the National Security Council at the White House as deputy national security advisor for international economic affairs and as the U.S. G-8 Sherpa. He also served as assistant secretary for import administration at the U.S. Department of Commerce and previously as international trade counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance. He is a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Coinbase’s new chief policy officer joins over two years after Mike Lempres, the company’s former chief policy officer and chief legal and risk officer, left in February 2019. Coinbase’s current chief legal officer is Paul Grewal and Shirzad will report to him, the Coinbase spokesperson told The Block.