Emilie Choi’s Career in Cryptocurrency and Tech

Emilie Choi is the president and chief operating officer (COO) of Coinbase Global, Inc., one of the world’s premier crypto exchanges. The company was formerly headquartered in San Francisco but became a remote-first workforce after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Alongside CEO and cofounder Brian Armstrong, she’s overseen prominent mergers and acquisitions and helped increase visibility for Coinbase. She also helped spearhead the company’s arrival on the NASDAQ, a watershed moment for Coinbase and cryptocurrency as a whole.

For the last twenty years, Emilie has done important work in various different avenues of the tech sector. Here are some facts to know about her:

1. 1. Emilie is an angel investor. Emilie has helped fund multiple tech ventures for budding Silicon Valley startups and entrepreneurs. As an angel investor, she’s been instrumental in new companies receiving both Series A and Series B funding and assisting at the seed level.
2. 2. Emilie has served on multiple boards. Alongside her work for Coinbase, Emilie has also served as a board member for numerous different companies. While she’s left the boards for Naspers Limited and ZipRecruiter, she remains in her position at Okta, Inc., a company providing thousands of identity integrations to various different apps and companies.
3. 3. Emilie has an Ivy League education. Before entering the workforce, Emilie obtained an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business. Prior to attending the Ivy League institution, she earned her bachelor’s in economics from Johns Hopkins University.
4. 4. Emilie sees a bright future for crypto. Whether talking about Bitcoin in particular or blockchains in general, Emilie believes the best is yet to come for cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and Web3 technologies.
5. 5. Emilie worked in business development. Prior to specializing in crypto, Emilie worked in corporate development. She was a senior analyst for Yahoo, a director of business operations for Warner Bros., and a vice president for LinkedIn before becoming Coinbase’s COO in 2018.

Emilie has helped shepherd crypto into the mainstream during her time at Coinbase. These are just five major topics you can expect her to discuss in her class:

1. 1. The importance of regulation: Emilie believes regulation will support rather than stifle crypto’s development. “The most important thing for the industry is that crypto has healthy, sensible regulation,” she says, “but that it doesn't overreach or stifle any of the great entrepreneurship and development.” In her class, you’ll hear how she thinks the government can help make it safe for everyone to invest in crypto.
2. 2. The opportunity for exploration: As burgeoning, innovative, and unpredictable fields, cryptocurrency and Web3 offer people the ability to carve their own unique paths. “Experiment and invest in all parts of the ecosystem,” Emilie says, “because you never know which parts are gonna take off, which parts are gonna be strategic, which parts are gonna accrue value in terms of monetization, and so on.” Get guidance from Emilie about how to explore, experiment, and invest well.
3. 3. The promise of crypto: Emilie thinks crypto possesses numerous advantages over traditional finance. “The real promise of crypto is oriented around a bunch of different features that don't exist in the traditional financial system today,” she says. “It is global. It doesn't see borders. It removes the need for a middleman or centralized authority or bank. It is near instantaneous.” Hear more about crypto’s promise in her class.
4. 4. The significance of transparency: Crypto exchanges manage to straddle the line between maximum security and transparency. “The reality is that the blockchain is transparent,” Emilie says. “It's public. And so transactions are always going to be monitored on that blockchain. That's one of the features and benefits of crypto.” Learn more from Emilie in her class.
5. 5. The value of objectivity: Like any other industry, crypto has seen good times and bad. “I never want to get over-exuberant about a new technology,” Emilie says. “But I also wanna make sure that I'm not such a skeptic that I miss out on the opportunity that these new technologies hold so much promise in.” She’ll help you see the technology with clear eyes in this class.

To learn more about investing in future trends, building a business strategy, and upping your general business savvy, consider the following classes:

1. 1. Bob Iger on business strategy and leadership: Bob Iger’s tenure as the CEO of the Walt Disney Company saw some of the entertainment company’s biggest acquisitions and successes. Watch Bob’s class to learn how he fuses curiosity, creativity, and candor to grow a business.
2. 2. Howard Shultz on business leadership: Howard Schultz didn’t have an MBA or an Ivy League degree, but he had a dream of building an enduring company. In Howard’s class, the Starbucks CEO shares lessons from nearly forty years of leading one of the world’s top brands, including how to face self-doubt when starting your journey as an entrepreneur.
3. 3. Sara Blakely on self-made entrepreneurship: Sara Blakely had no fashion, retail, or business leadership experience when she invented Spanx, her successful brand of women’s undergarments, in the 1990s. All she had was $5,000 and an idea. Watch Sara’s class to learn more about her entrepreneurial journey, as well as her tips for marketing a product and hiring a team.

All investments and investment strategies entail inherent risks and introduce the potential for financial loss or the depreciation of assets. The information in this article is for educational, informational, and referential purposes only. Consult a professional investment advisor before making any financial commitments.

From the rise of blockchain technology to the dawning of NFTs and Web3, the world of cryptocurrency has undergone dynamic changes and continues to innovate. With the MasterClass Annual Membership, get access to exclusive lessons from Hunch cofounder Chris Dixon, Binance cofounder Changpeng Zhao, Coinbase’s Emilie Choi, and economist Paul Krugman to learn about the ever-changing landscape of cryptocurrency and its place in the global economy.