Coinbase Adds Four National Security Experts to its Global Advisory Council

Coinbase (COIN) has added four national security experts, including former U.S. Secretary of Defence Dr. Mark T. Esper, to its Global Advisory Council, it announced on Tuesday.

The other additions include Stephanie Murphy, a former congresswoman from Florida and former national security specialist at the Defense Department; Frances Townsend, former Counterterrorism and Homeland Security Advisor to President George W. Bush; and David Urban, a lobbyist who was also senior advisor to Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and oversaw corporate affairs of ByteDance (TikTok’s parent company).

Coinbase has been embattled in efforts to legitimize crypto in the U.S. The exchange is fighting the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in an unregistered securities dispute but quietly acquired approval to handle customers’ buying and selling of crypto futures from The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

“With deep national security expertise, Esper, Murphy, Townsend, and Urban will help the Council examine what consequences will result from regulatory uncertainty for crypto in the United States, including the long-term economic and national security impacts,” Coinbase said.

The quartet joins former Senator Patrick Toomey (R-PA), former Congressman Tim Ryan (D-OH), former Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY), Chris Lehane, Chief Strategy Officer at Haun Ventures, and John Anzalone, Impact Research Polling founder on the council that was formed in May 2023.

Senator Toomey tried and failed to push his own crypto legislation through Congress before leaving at the start of the year, and does not see a way forward for any crypto-related legislation in this term.