Coinbase named Melissa Strait as its new Chief Compliance Officer in a company announcement on Thursday. Strait joins the cryptocurrency and digital wallet company after working at Stripe for five years.
At Stripe, Strait worked as its U.S. Compliance Officer, and most recently the Global Head of Financial Crimes. In both roles, she built and led global teams responsible for the day-to-day sustainment of compliance programs that supported millions of the world’s top companies in over 120 countries. Before Stripe, Strait also oversaw compliance operations at Jack Dorsey’s fintech company Square.
At both of her previous employers, Strait oversaw compliance aspects of each company’s integration of Coinbase’s products, making her no stranger to Coinbase or the potential of cryptocurrency.
Strait joins a rapidly growing legal and compliance team at Coinbase. Recent additions to the team include Paul Grewal as Chief Legal Officer, Milana McCullagh as VP, Deputy General Counsel — Product and Commerical, and Katherine Minarik as VP and Deputy General Counsel — Litigation
“As Coinbase continues to be the bridge between the cryptoeconomy and the traditional financial system, implementing industry-leading compliance programs will be critical to earning and maintaining the trust of our retail and institutional customers,” Grewal said. “Melissa’s experience at the very cutting edge of fintech innovation makes her uniquely qualified to navigate the complex web of regulations to which we not only comply with, but are also helping to shape.”
