Emilie Choi holds the title of President and Chief Operating Officer at Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange listed on the Nasdaq. Before crypto, she spent close to a decade running mergers and acquisitions at LinkedIn, shaping how Coinbase later grew through acquisitions. Today she runs the operations behind one of the industry’s largest custodians of client assets.
Who Is Emilie Choi?
Choi built her career in corporate finance long before she had heard of Bitcoin. She earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Johns Hopkins University, then an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Early roles spanned investment banking at Legg Mason Wood Walker and corporate development at Yahoo and Warner Bros. Entertainment.
Her longest stop before Coinbase was LinkedIn, where she spent close to a decade as Vice President of Corporate Development, leading more than 40 acquisitions, including the purchase of online learning platform Lynda.com. Choi joined Coinbase in March 2018, during that year’s bear market. She stayed, moved into full operations, and within a year was named Chief Operating Officer.
Emilie Choi’s Career and Contributions
Choi’s responsibilities kept expanding. She added the President title in November 2020 while keeping her COO role, and the following year helped steer Coinbase’s April 2021 direct listing on the Nasdaq. She also built out Coinbase Ventures, which has since backed more than 150 early-stage crypto and blockchain startups.
Her M&A instincts from LinkedIn carried over. Coinbase closed dozens of acquisitions on her watch, including the 2025 purchase of derivatives exchange Deribit, and by year-end 2025 reported $376 billion in assets on its platform, according to Forbes. Choi also serves as an independent director on Okta’s board. Her full professional history is on her LinkedIn profile, and you can find profiles of other executives shaping this industry on our crypto personalities page.
Emilie Choi’s Views on Regulation and Stablecoins
Choi has spent years arguing that clear rules help crypto more than they hurt it. Speaking near the Mainnet conference in September 2021, after Coinbase clashed with the SEC over its Lend product, she told Yahoo Finance, “We should all care about transparency and clarity.” She has framed regulatory engagement as a competitive advantage ever since.
Her focus has since shifted toward stablecoins as infrastructure rather than just a trading product. On Coinbase’s first-quarter 2026 earnings call, she described USDC distribution, the Base network, and the company’s payments APIs as a stack no competitor owns end-to-end, calling stablecoin settlement central to where the business is heading.
Emilie Choi in the News
Coinbase scored a regulatory win on April 2, 2026, when the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted conditional approval to charter Coinbase National Trust Company, according to Bitcoin Magazine, moving its institutional custody business toward a federally regulated structure.
That approval is now being tested. Yahoo Finance reported that New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Coinbase on April 21, 2026, alleging its prediction market products amount to unlicensed gambling under state law, and that Coinbase shed roughly $4 billion in market value after the filing, with New York seeking at least $2.2 billion in damages. Coinbase is contesting the claims, arguing that prediction markets fall under federal law rather than state gambling statutes. The dispute remains unresolved.
Frequently Asked Questions
Need a refresher on Emilie Choi? Here are the questions readers most often ask about her role at Coinbase.
Who is Emilie Choi?
Emilie Choi is the President and Chief Operating Officer of Coinbase. She joined in 2018 after close to a decade in corporate development at LinkedIn and has led Coinbase’s operations and acquisitions since.
What did Emilie Choi do before Coinbase?
Before Coinbase, Choi spent close to a decade as Vice President of Corporate Development at LinkedIn, leading more than 40 acquisitions, after earlier stints in investment banking at Legg Mason Wood Walker and corporate strategy at Yahoo and Warner Bros.
Is Emilie Choi named in Coinbase’s legal disputes?
Choi has not been named individually in Coinbase’s recent legal matters, including the New York Attorney General’s April 2026 lawsuit over prediction markets. The litigation targets Coinbase as a company, not her personally.
Is Emilie Choi still President and COO of Coinbase in 2026?
Yes. As of mid-2026, Choi continues to serve as President and Chief Operating Officer, a role she has held since November 2020 alongside the COO title she has carried since 2019.
