Coinbase's Emilie Choi: The Dealmaker Behind the Crypto Giant's Rapid Growth

Emilie Choi is the President and Chief Operating Officer at Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange listed on the Nasdaq. She joined Coinbase in March 2018 during a bear market but stayed, becoming COO within a year.

Born with a background in corporate finance, Choi earned her bachelor's degree in economics from Johns Hopkins University and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Before joining LinkedIn for nearly a decade as Vice President of Corporate Development, she worked in investment banking at Legg Mason Wood Walker and corporate strategy at Yahoo and Warner Bros.

At Coinbase, Choi led operations and acquisitions, including the 2025 purchase of derivatives exchange Deribit. The company closed dozens of acquisitions under her watch, with assets on its platform reaching $376 billion by year-end 2025, according to Forbes.