Blockchain: Facebook’s David Marcus leaves Coinbase’s board

Facebook’s David
Marcus.
WSJD

• Facebook’s blockchain boss David Marcus is leaving the
  board of crypto startup Coinbase.
• His departure is a signal that the social networking
  giant’s secretive blockchain efforts are progressing.
• “Because of the new group I’m setting up at Facebook
  around Blockchain, I’ve decided it was appropriate for me to
  resign from the Coinbase board,” Marcus said in a
  statement.

In a sign that Facebook’s secretive blockchain effort is
progressing, David Marcus, the head of that project, announced
he’s leaving the board of $8 billion cryptocurrency startup
Coinbase.

Marcus joined Coinbase’s board in December 2017. His decision to
resign “was made to avoid the appearance of a conflict of
interest,” a Coinbase representative told CoinDesk,
which first
reported the news. The representative did not elaborate
further to CoinDesk, and a Coinbase representative did not
respond to Business Insider’s request for more information.

“Because of the new group I’m setting up at Facebook around
blockchain, I’ve decided it was appropriate for me to resign from
the Coinbase board,” Marcus said in a statement provided to
Business Insider by a Facebook representative.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong thanked Marcus for his service in a
separate statement.

“David Marcus has been a wonderful addition to the Coinbase
board, providing valuable perspective and mentorship,” Armstrong
said in the statement.

Facebook may be planning its own payments network

Marcus’ move follows a
report from Business Insider that Facebook has met with
cryptocurrency payment technology startup Stellar. That move may
indicate it plans to set up its own payments network.

Facebook’s blockchain team was first announced at the company’s
F8 conference in May 2018. Marcus, a high-profile executive who
previously led the company’s Messenger team and, prior to that,
had served as president of payments firm PayPal, was appointed to
lead the project.

Marcus is one of several heavy hitters Facebook has assigned to
the effort, which some observers have interpreted as an
indication of just how serious the Silicon Valley giant is about
it. In addition to Marcus, the blockchain team includes Kevin
Weil, the former head of product for Instagram; James Everingham,
Instagram’s former head of engineering; and Evan Cheng, one of
Facebook’s veteran senior engineers.

Beyond the appointments, Facebook has said little about its
blockchain project.

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