A Coinbase boss resigns after few months on the job in yet another high-profile crypto exec departure

• Brett Redfearn resigned as Coinbase head of capital markets in July, the Wall Street Journal reported.
• The ex-SEC official left because of a shift in Coinbase’s priorities away from digital-asset securities, sources told the WSJ.
• Brian Brooks, another ex-regulator, said Friday he was stepping down as CEO of Binance’s US arm.
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Brett Redfearn has resigned as Coinbase’s head of capital markets after just four months in the role, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Redfearn, a former regulatory official at the Securities and Exchange Commission, left the crypto exchange at the end of July, the WSJ reported Monday, citing a Coinbase spokesperson. The departure is said to have been amicable.

Coinbase’s shift in priority away from digital-asset securities was the reason for Redfearn’s departure, sources familiar with the matter told the WSJ.

A Coinbase spokesperson confirmed his departure in response to Insider’s request for comment, adding that the company appreciates his contributions.

Before joining Coinbase, Redfearn was director of the trading and markets division at the SEC. Counting 13 years at JPMorgan, his career spans experience in markets, regulation, and electronic trading.

He joined the crypto exchange in late March this year, meaning it made one of its highest-profile hires just ahead of its stock market listing in April.

The rise of new uses for crypto may be behind the shift in focus at Coinbase that prompted Redfearn’s departure. Growing demand for access to decentralized finance (DeFi) led to digital-asset securities becoming less of a priority, one source told CoinDesk.

Digital-asset securities are ordinarily treated as currency or property by the SEC, unlike bitcoin, which is regulated as a commodity.

On Friday, another prominent former regulator stepped down from a leading role at a crypto exchange. Brian Brooks resigned as the CEO of Binance’s US arm, which he joined after serving as acting comptroller of the currency in the Trump administration. Brooks cited differences over strategic direction as his reason for leaving.

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