Emilie Choi holds the title of President and Chief Working Officer at Coinbase, the most important crypto alternate listed on the Nasdaq. Earlier than crypto, she spent near a decade operating mergers and acquisitions at LinkedIn, shaping how Coinbase later grew via acquisitions. At present she runs the operations behind one of many business’s largest custodians of consumer property.
Who Is Emilie Choi?
Choi constructed her profession in company finance lengthy earlier than she had heard of Bitcoin. She earned a bachelor’s diploma in economics from Johns Hopkins College, then an MBA from the Wharton Faculty on the College of Pennsylvania. Early roles spanned funding banking at Legg Mason Wooden Walker and company growth at Yahoo and Warner Bros. Leisure.
Her longest cease earlier than Coinbase was LinkedIn, the place she spent near a decade as Vice President of Company Improvement, main greater than 40 acquisitions, together with the acquisition of on-line studying platform Lynda.com. Choi joined Coinbase in March 2018, throughout that yr’s bear market. She stayed, moved into full operations, and inside a yr was named Chief Working Officer.
Emilie Choi’s Profession and Contributions
Choi’s tasks stored increasing. She added the President title in November 2020 whereas protecting her COO function, and the next yr helped steer Coinbase’s April 2021 direct itemizing on the Nasdaq. She additionally constructed out Coinbase Ventures, which has since backed greater than 150 early-stage crypto and blockchain startups.
Her M&A instincts from LinkedIn carried over. Coinbase closed dozens of acquisitions on her watch, together with the 2025 buy of derivatives alternate Deribit, and by year-end 2025 reported $376 billion in property on its platform, in accordance with Forbes. Choi additionally serves as an impartial director on Okta’s board. Her full skilled historical past is on her LinkedIn profile, and you could find profiles of different executives shaping this business on our crypto personalities web page.
Emilie Choi’s Views on Regulation and Stablecoins
Choi has spent years arguing that clear guidelines assist crypto greater than they harm it. Talking close to the Mainnet convention in September 2021, after Coinbase clashed with the SEC over its Lend product, she informed Yahoo Finance, “We should always all care about transparency and readability.” She has framed regulatory engagement as a aggressive benefit ever since.
Her focus has since shifted towards stablecoins as infrastructure relatively than only a buying and selling product. On Coinbase’s first-quarter 2026 earnings name, she described USDC distribution, the Base community, and the corporate’s funds APIs as a stack no competitor owns end-to-end, calling stablecoin settlement central to the place the enterprise is heading.
Emilie Choi within the Information
Coinbase scored a regulatory win on April 2, 2026, when the Workplace of the Comptroller of the Foreign money granted conditional approval to constitution Coinbase Nationwide Belief Firm, in accordance with Bitcoin Journal, transferring its institutional custody enterprise towards a federally regulated construction.
That approval is now being examined. Yahoo Finance reported that New York Lawyer Normal Letitia James sued Coinbase on April 21, 2026, alleging its prediction market merchandise quantity to unlicensed playing underneath state regulation, and that Coinbase shed roughly $4 billion in market worth after the submitting, with New York looking for at the very least $2.2 billion in damages. Coinbase is contesting the claims, arguing that prediction markets fall underneath federal regulation relatively than state playing statutes. The dispute stays unresolved.
Regularly Requested Questions
Want a refresher on Emilie Choi? Listed below are the questions readers most frequently ask about her function at Coinbase.
Who’s Emilie Choi?
Emilie Choi is the President and Chief Working Officer of Coinbase. She joined in 2018 after near a decade in company growth at LinkedIn and has led Coinbase’s operations and acquisitions since.
What did Emilie Choi do earlier than Coinbase?
Earlier than Coinbase, Choi spent near a decade as Vice President of Company Improvement at LinkedIn, main greater than 40 acquisitions, after earlier stints in funding banking at Legg Mason Wooden Walker and company technique at Yahoo and Warner Bros.
Is Emilie Choi named in Coinbase’s authorized disputes?
Choi has not been named individually in Coinbase’s current authorized issues, together with the New York Lawyer Normal’s April 2026 lawsuit over prediction markets. The litigation targets Coinbase as an organization, not her personally.
Is Emilie Choi nonetheless President and COO of Coinbase in 2026?
Sure. As of mid-2026, Choi continues to function President and Chief Working Officer, a job she has held since November 2020 alongside the COO title she has carried since 2019.