Coinbase Added Shopify CEO To Board Of Directors

Coinbase added Shopify CEO CEO to its board of Directors and it only reflects the growing role of the crypto industry in everyday commerce so let’s find out more today in our latest Coinbase news.

Coinbase added Shopify CEO Tobias Lutke who has been a long-time crypto supporter. Shopify is a platform that provides online shopping tools to millions of merchants. Lutke’s appointment is expected to become official later in February. Coinbase announced that Lutke who leads Shopify will join its board of directors. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong touted Lutke’s support for crypto and suggested that the company could play a huge role in the crypto’s future. Armstrong wrote:

“Shopify sits at the nexus of three important areas that crypto seeks to revolutionize: Finance and payments, web applications, and the internet itself.”

The overlap between Coinbase and Shopify is not something we haven’t seen before.  Shopify already used Coinbase Commerce to offer crypto payments options to its merchants which include the likes of Pepsi and Tesla. Lutke’s appointment to the Coinbase board raises the possibility that the company will accept Mastercard for NFT payments and could be contemplating a new retail or shopping initiative:

“With his guidance, we hope to unlock crypto’s potential to increase economic freedom in the same way Shopify democratized online commerce.”

A spokesperson of Coinbase suggested that Lutke’s appointment to the board is coming due to teh good rapport he has with Armstrong and because both CEOs have similar views on the politics and the relations to crypto. As for Lutke, he said that both companies share a similar vision about the benefits of decentralization which is a core element of the crypto industry:

“The concepts of decentralized finance and entrepreneurship exemplify the promise of Web3 where opportunity exists for the many, not the few.”

Lutke’s interest in crypto is also reflected in Shopify’s recent announcement that will help clients like NBA Chicago Bulls offer Nft sales and in the decision of the company to join FAcebook’s stablecoin consortium. Lutke’s appointment will be confirmed later this week and If he is approved, he will become the 8^th member of the board chaired by Armstrong among other members like Marc Andreessen and Fred Ehrsam. In 2020, Coinbase added executives from DoorDash and Cisco to its board as the company sought to gain even bigger governance experience before its public offering. Coinbase whose share price hit an all-time low is expected to announce its earnings by February 25.