Leading cryptocurrency exchange startup Coinbase has announced the appointment of David Marcus, Vice President of Messaging Products at Facebook, to the company’s Board of Directors.

Prior to Messenger, Marcus was President of PayPal, where he led the payments company’s global expansion and product strategy. He joined PayPal after the acquisition of his last startup, mobile payments company, Zong, and led Mobile products before ultimately taking the leadership role at the company.

"I’ve been involved with, and fascinated by cryptocurrencies since 2012, and I’ve witnessed how Coinbase has started democratizing access to this new asset class. I’m convinced that what the company is working on has the potential to materially change the lives of people around the world, and I’m looking forward to working with Coinbase and its leadership team to help make this vision a reality,” Marcus said.

Coinbase said that Marcus will bring first-hand knowledge of building impactful, trusted mobile-first products at scale to the company. His addition to its board of directors will help the leadership team as the company focuses on becoming the most popular, and safest place to buy and sell digital currencies.

"David’s perspective and experience in bringing innovative and impactful products to market will be invaluable to Coinbase as we grow. David’s knowledge of both the payments and mobile space will help guide us in achieving our mission of creating a truly open financial system that will bring opportunity to people all across the globe,” Brian Armstrong, CEO and Co-founder of Coinbase, said.