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RIYADH: Roger Bartlett, an executive at Goldman Sachs is joining Coinbase, the largest publicly listed US crypto exchange, after 16 years at the global investment bank, and says it is time to embrace the crypto economy.

“After 16 years at Goldman Sachs, it is time to embrace the crypto economy. I am delighted to announce that next week I’ll be joining Coinbase to run global financial operations,” Bartlett announced on Linkedin on Friday.

He added that now is the time to take his experience from Goldman Sachs and follow his passion to help empower the cryptocurrency economy for the next generation.

“The inspiring purpose-led mission to create economic freedom in the world, in a customer first, automation first approach is a once in a lifetime opportunity to be part of building the next stage of the digital evolution,” he said.

Coinbase said on Friday that the number of verified users on its platform has risen to 89 million.

While the number of monthly transacting users reached 11.4 million at the end of last year, according to Bitcoin.com.

Daily trading

Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency internationally, traded higher on Sunday, rising by 0.16 percent to $39,042 at 1:23 p.m. Riyadh time while Ether was priced at $2,760, up by 0.08 percent, according to data from CoinDesk.

Warning

With Russia banned from the SWIFT global interbank payments system after its invasion of Ukraine, some analysts have warned that its President Vladimir Putin may turn to cryptocurrency to evade sanctions.

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication is a Belgian cooperative society providing services related to the execution of financial transactions and payments between banks worldwide.

“We believe Washington is worried that Russia will use crypto to evade sanctions,” Cowen Washington Research Group analyst Jaret Seiberg said on Friday.

“If Russia is able to use crypto this way, then we believe political support in the US for crypto will fall,and regulatory risk will rise,” he added.

Seiberg believes that since most global trade is still denominated in dollars, it may be difficult for Russia to use cryptocurrency to evade SWIFT.

“Paying in bitcoin requires a conversion to dollars, which provides a way to track activity. That also works in favor of crypto,” he said.