Coinbase, the leading cryptocurrency exchange operator, acquired the paid email startup Earn.com and made the founder-CEO Balaji Srinivasan its first chief technology officer.
The San Francisco, California-based Earn.com's blockchain-enabled platform allows senders to pay users in digital currency for replying to emails and completing tasks.
The startup was said to be acquired for a sum of nearly $100 million.
Known to be one among the few true originalists in the crypto world, Srinivasan was a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz before serving as the CEO of Earn.com. He holds a BS, MS, and PhD in Electrical Engineering and an MS in Chemical Engineering.
The Stanford alumni will serve as "the technological evangelist" and educate the world, and recruit crypto-first talent to the company, Brian Armstrong, co-founder and CEO of Coinbase said.
The company has been on a hiring spree recently as it rapidly expands its operations beyond that of a cryptocurrency exchange. The company launched its venture funding arm this month and is reportedly seeking to register as a licensed brokerage with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Last week, Coinbase appointed Rachael Horwitz, formerly partner at Spark Capital, as the Vice President of Communications. In March, the company roped in NYSE's Eric Scro as VP of Finance and LinkedIn's Emilie Choi as VP of Corporate and Business Development.
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