Coinbase Enlists Trump Campaign Co-Manager, Ex-Senator, Former Fed Boss

• Crypto exchange Coinbase announced four additions to its global advisory council on Wednesday.
• They were the co-manager of Trump’s campaign, an ex-senator, a former Fed president, and a development guru.
• Coinbase CEO recently told Davos that Trump’s return was “the dawn of a new day” for crypto.

Coinbase, the largest US-based crypto exchange, announced that it has appointed Chris LaCivita, the co-manager of President Donald Trump’s election campaign, to its global advisory council.

LaCivita was appointed alongside Kyrsten Sinema, the former Arizona senator; Bill Dudley, the former head of the New York Fed; and Luis Alberto Moreno, a former president of the Inter-American Development Bank and Colombia’s ambassador to the US.

“Our four new members are world-class leaders in their respective fields and we look forward to their contributions as the world enters a new era for crypto,” Coinbase’s chief policy officer, Faryar Shirzad, said in a statement Wednesday.

Trump’s election victory has boosted crypto. The president has championed the technology, even launching his own meme coin just before his inauguration.

Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency, jumped from below $70,000 at the time of the US election in November to more than $100,000.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong heralded Trump’s return to the White House as “the dawn of a new day” when he appeared at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland last week.

He said that the Biden administration had overseen a “very hostile environment” where regulators “tried to curtail or kill the industry unlawfully.”

Coinbase established its global advisory council in 2023, saying at the time that it would “help navigate the complex and evolving landscape of the crypto industry, and strengthen relationships with strategic stakeholders around the world.”

Existing members include former members of Congress Kendrick Meek, Stephanie Murphy, Patrick Toomey, and Tim Ryan.

Antonio Villaraigosa and Keisha Lance, the former mayors of Los Angeles and Atlanta respectively, and Mark Esper, the former US defense secretary, also sit on the council, among others.

Separately, Trump Media & Technology Group — which counts the president as its largest shareholder — announced on Wednesday that it would expand into fintech and might invest in bitcoin and other tokens.