Facebook executive David Marcus is leaving the board of the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, reportedly to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.
The former president of PayPal joined the Coinbase board in December. Shortly after joining that board, Facebook appointed Marcus to lead a team to research blockchain technology, possibly to create its own cryptocurrency.
Marcus has been a Facebook vice president for four years. He said he resigned from Coinbase’s board “because of the new group I’m setting up at Facebook around blockchain,” according to a statement quoted by several news sources.
A Coinbase spokesperson said Marcus’ decision to step down was made to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, but declined to elaborate.
In July Facebook modified its ban on crypto ads to allow companies such as Coinbase to advertise on Facebook. Read more here.