Another one bites the dust: Coinbase President and COO departs

Coinbase’s President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) Asiff Hirji has left the company, the latest in a series of departures by senior executives at the US cryptocurrency exchange.

Emilie Choi, VP of Business, Data and International, has been named as the new COO.

Coinbase also lost Balaji Srinivasan, Chief Technology Officer, in May. In a tweet, Srinivasan, founder of Earn.com, said that he had enjoyed his time at the company and that he would now take time off “to get back in shape and up to speed on everything happening” when he was “heads down” at Coinbase.

In April, meanwhile, Head of International, Dan Romero, announced his resignation in a blog post.

“I’m planning to take some time to figure out what’s next, but I remain as optimistic as ever about the potential of cryptocurrency and Coinbase,” he said.

“I joined Coinbase when it was 20 people; it is now over 700 people. I’ve also had the privilege to work across almost every aspect of the business: our banking partnerships, international, and time with both our consumer and institutional businesses. Through this, I’ve come to appreciate the value in working at a mission-driven company that’s willing to focus on a long-term strategy,” he added. 

“Staying true to a mission often requires doing hard (or even unpopular) things. But I’ve been lucky to learn first hand that it’s those hard things that often generate the most value.”