Jeff Horowitz Becomes Coinbase’s new Chief Compliance Officer; President Bill Clinton to Speak at the Ripple Swell Conference

On July 31, 2018, Coinbase announced the hiring of the former Pershing LLC executive, Jeff Horowitz, as its chief compliance officer, to add his years of experience in the finance world to the firm and help make Coinbase Custody a reality. That same day, Ripple named former president of the US, Bill Clinton, as keynote speaker of their October Swell Conference.



A new Beginning

After much anticipation, Coinbase finally launched its custodial service targeted at institutional investors on July 2, 2018, as part of its continuous expansion plans. Coinbase strongly believes that with nearly 12 years of experience at Pershing LLC, a BNY Mellon Company, Jeff Horowitz has all it takes to lead them to the next level.

The San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange is looking to help crypto big whales and traditional hedge fund managers venture into the burgeoning digital currency space. Adding a veteran like Horowitz seems like an excellent step in the right direction.

“For the past two decades, I’ve built global AML and fraud-prevention programs for companies like Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and Salomon Brothers,” said Horowitz, adding, “These are precisely the type of programs that institutional investors need to see as they’re starting to see crypto as an investment opportunity.”

Custodial Services and Regulations Compliance

At a time when governments are increasingly scrutinizing the operations of cryptocurrency businesses, hiring a man who knows what regulators want is a forward-thinking move indeed. Horowitz has worked with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and has also served two terms as a member of FinCEN’s Bank Secrecy Act Advisory Group. Horowitz has made it clear that his first task on his new job is to put in place new supervisory controls for Coinbase custodial services, while also ensuring the company’s broker-dealer services work in compliance with the necessary regulations.

Unlike its counterpart, Kingdom Trust, which supports bitcoin and eight other cryptos including Stellar Lumens (XLM), Coinbase Custody only handles bitcoin, litecoin, ether, and bitcoin cash. Just a handful of firms offer cryptocurrency custodial services to investors, though Coinbase Custody isn’t the only new provider. Pallion, an Australia-based precious metal custodian, recently expanded its subsidiary, Custodian Vaults, in a bid to start offering insured cryptocurrency custodial services, as noted by BTCManager on July 17, 2018.

In any case, the cryptosphere certainly needs more reputable firms to step up and perform even better than Xapo, Kingdom Trust, and now, Coinbase Custody.

President Bill Clinton to Speak at the Swell Conference

On July 31, 2018, the Ripple team announced that former United States President Bill Clinton will be the keynote speaker at their upcoming Swell by Ripple conference in October 2018.

The Ripple Swell conference is aimed at bringing together global leaders in banking, payments, and blockchain technology, that are committed to revolutionizing the world of finance.

According to the Ripple Swell team, they decided to choose Clinton as a keynote speaker for the event because he has contributed immensely to the technological advancement of the world by ushering in a “period of extreme growth and adoption of the internet, shaping what it is today,” said the Swell team.

The Swell 2018 conference will be held in San Francisco, on October 1 and 2, 2018. Some of the pertinent issues to be discussed include new market opportunity in remittances, e-commerce and corporate marketplaces, frameworks for regulating crypto assets across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, and more.