Coinbase's former top lawyer sold $4.6 million in stock when he left the exchange for OCC

Brian Brooks, the former chief legal officer of Coinbase, liquidated $4.6 million worth of stock options when he left the cryptocurrency exchange in March for a top role at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).

Bloomberg reported the news on Tuesday, citing Brooks’ financial disclosures filed with the government. Besides the stock options, Brooks earned a $1.4 million salary in his 1.7 years tenure at Coinbase, per the report.

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Brooks previously also worked for housing finance giant Fannie Mae, first as the company’s general counsel and later as a board member, and reportedly received $1.5 million from the company in the past two years. He still has some stocks and bonds left in his portfolio, worth between $1 million and $2.2 million, per the report.

Brooks is now making much less at the OCC - under $300,000 a year. He joined the OCC, chief regulator of U.S. national banks, as the first deputy comptroller and chief operating officer in March, and was later promoted to the acting comptroller in May.

At his role at the OCC, Brooks aims to allow crypto firms to be licensed as financial institutions on a national level rather than on a state-by-state level. He also wants to address issues crypto firms face when accessing banking services.

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Yogita Khatri is a senior reporter at The Block, covering all things crypto. As one of the earliest team members, Yogita has played a pivotal role in breaking numerous stories, exclusives and scoops. With nearly 3,000 articles under her belt, Yogita holds the records as The Block's most-published and most-read author of all time. Prior to joining The Block, Yogita worked at crypto publication CoinDesk and The Economic Times, where she wrote on personal finance. To contact her, email: [email protected]. For her latest work, follow her on X @Yogita_Khatri5.