Ex-Coinbase Executive Adam White Joins ICE’s Crypto Platform Bakkt, Sources Say

Former head of institution products at Coinbase crypto exchange Adam White is reportedly joining Intercontinental Exchange’s (ICE) platform Bakkt. ICE’s new hire was revealed by anonymous sources familiar with the matter cited by news outlet The Block on Oct. 12.

White left Coinbase in early October, declining to comment on his decision. However, a spokesperson of Coinbase then said that the company was “extremely sad to see him go.”

As per The Block’s source, Bakkt has now hired White as its Chief Operating Officer.

The crypto trading platform Bakkt was first announced in August by the Intercontinental Exchange, which is also the operator of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). It has been developed in partnership with Microsoft and Starbucks.

As Cointelegraph previously reported, White has been working for Coinbase for almost five years and was its fifth-ever employee, joining the team at the time it gathered in a one-bedroom apartment and Bitcoin (BTC) was trading at around $200.

While White was working for Coinbase, the company deployed a series of services targeted at big institutional clients, such as custodian services and an index fund.

The exchange, which was recently valued at $8 billion according to some reports, has made a number of high-profile hires in the past months. For instance, this October Coinbase welcomed a board member of the Charles Schwab bank Chris Dodds, and in September it hired Fannie Mae’s former General Counsel Brian Brooks as its new Chief Legal Officer.

Moreover, this summer a former Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft employee Tim Wagner joined Coinbase as vice president (VP) of engineering.