Coinbase adds former defense secretary, congresswoman amid crypto scrutiny

Trading platform Coinbase said Tuesday it has added four Washington, D.C., heavyweights at a tense moment for the cryptocurrency industry.

Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper and former Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.) are among those joining Coinbase’s Global Advisory Council, which launched in May with inaugural members including former Sen. Patrick Toomey (R-Pa.) and former Reps. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) and Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.).

The council will also add BGR Group Managing Director David Urban and Frances Townsend, whose resume includes stints as a counterterrorism and homeland security adviser to President George W. Bush and executive vice president of the video game company Activision Blizzard.

The announcement comes days after former cryptocurrency darling Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted of crimes, including wire fraud and conspiracy, linked to his exchange FTX and amid heightened scrutiny over the role of crypto in financing Hamas’s attacks on Israel.

“We are honored to have these four outstanding leaders and respected national security leaders join our Global Advisory Council. We look forward to relying on their insights and expertise as we continue to grow America’s leading — and the world’s most trusted — digital asset platform,” Faryar Shirzad, chief policy officer at Coinbase, told The Hill.