Coinbase raids LinkedIn for key data role

Michael Li has joined US crypto exchange and wallet provider Coinbase as VP of Data.

He makes the leap from LinkedIn, where he started out as Director, Business Analytics in 2011, before taking on the role of Head of Analytics & Data Science.

In a LinkedIn post, Li says: “I have worked at LinkedIn for over seven years. It has been my most exciting and rewarding professional experience by far. LinkedIn has completely transformed my career; from being one of the earliest people working on business analytics for monetisation to leading a world class analytics and data science team globally. I’m thrilled to see that data and insights have become essential for almost everything we do at LinkedIn.”

Coinbase

In a Medium post, Li expresses his excitement at being able to contribute to Coinbase’s mission to “create an open financial system for the world.” He adds that blockchain technologies are being rapidly created and adopted, and Coinbase is driving this evolution. “I’m excited by the opportunity to combine my passion about data and the endless possibilities of data innovations in the cryptocurrency and blockchain world.”

Data will be essential to empowering the venture’s mission, he adds, and core to its strategy to deliver the most trusted and easiest-to-use cryptocurrency products and services.

“We will be both leveraging existing technologies like machine learning and AI, as well as creating data innovations for emerging blockchain use cases to keep up with the ever-changing industry landscape. I look forward to advancing the company’s leadership position in the crypto industry through the power of data and will share key learnings along the way,” he concludes.