Former Coinbase VP Adam White Joins Blackstone as Crypto Investment Adviser

Adam White, a veteran of Coinbase (COIN) and most recently the president and chief operating officer of trading platform Bakkt (BKKT), has joined private equity giant Blackstone (BX), where he will act as an investment advisor and help direct the firm’s growing efforts in the crypto sector.

White begins at Blackstone as a senior investment adviser, working on a flexible, part-time basis with the firm’s various investment teams, including consumer growth, private equity, alternative asset management and private credit – a roster that accounts for close to a trillion dollars. He will also be working with Blackstone’s portfolio companies to foster an understanding of crypto and Web3 investing.

“[Adam] will help us think critically about the broader ecosystem for digital assets, including the potential areas of disruption as blockchain technology is applied to new sectors. Few people better understand both the challenges and opportunities related to the industry,” said Vishal Amin, a managing director at Blackstone Growth.

White added, “I’m excited to join Blackstone as an adviser and work alongside the team and portfolio companies. The scale and operating resources Blackstone offers to companies is unmatched and can be particularly powerful in a growing industry.”

Following the pattern of many other financial giants, Blackstone has taken a cautious approach to crypto, preferring to invest in the sector's picks and shovels, including the likes of blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis.

White left Bakkt at the end of 2021 after three-plus years at the firm. Bakkt, which is owned by Intercontinental Exchange, also the owner of NYSE, went public in October 2021 via a merger with a special purpose acquisition company.

Before joining Bakkt, White was a key member of the Coinbase executive team during the San Francisco-based exchange’s formative years between 2013 and 2018. A graduate of Harvard Business School, White also tested and flew fighter jets for the U.S. military, which included missions in Iraq.