Coinbase has a new M&A boss to ramp up expansion

Coinbase has poached LinkedIn's dealmaking head Emilie Choi as the cryptocurrency exchange giant preps up to expand through a potential series of mergers and acquisitions.

On Monday, Coinbase announced that it had hired Emilie Choi to serve as the company’s vice president of corporate and business development. Choi will be tasked with “scaling Coinbase globally, seeking out world-class acquisition and partnership opportunities, and managing our strategic projects,” according to a post published on the company blog.

At LinkedIn, Choi oversaw more than 40 acquisitions in her role as VP of corporate development, including its $1.5 billion purchase of Lynda, an online education startup, in 2015. Choi's hire is expected to help Coinbase's fast-growing business that has had trouble keeping up with user growth and activity — both from a customer service and technical perspective.

Coinbase is moving fast into a new phase of the company’s journey. Emilie’s deep experience leading world-class corporate development teams will help move Coinbase into new markets and opportunities globally by leveraging acquisitions, strategic investments and partnerships," Asiff Hirji, President & COO, Coinbase said in a blogpost.

Coinbase is already eyeing "quite a number" of potential acquisitions, Hirji added, and Choi will be tasked with helping it evaluate those as well as identifying new targets.

The announcement of Choi’s hiring comes just one week after fintech startup Circle announced that it had acquired cryptocurrency exchange Poloniex in a deal reportedly worth $400 million.