Facebook's David Marcus Resigns From Coinbase Board in Blockchain Push

Facebook executive David Marcus resigned from Coinbase’s board, a sign the social network operator is pushing ahead with its own blockchain work, according to Bloomberg.

Marcus quit on Friday, citing a new group he oversees at Facebook that’s exploring potential blockchain uses. "I’ve decided it was appropriate for me to resign from the Coinbase board," he said in a statement. CoinDesk, a blockchain news website, earlier reported the move.

While Facebook is yet to announce how it intends to harness blockchain, some analysts believe the company will follow in the footsteps of other players and issue its own cryptocurrency or token. If that happens, a board seat at Coinbase could be viewed as a conflict of interest, as Marcus could lobby the exchange to list a Facebook token.

Marcus announced in May that he was leaving his position as head of Facebook Messenger to focus on exploring the use of blockchain. A few months prior, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he was learning about encryption and cryptocurrency.

Under Marcus’s leadership, Messenger monthly user numbers jumped from 300 million to more than 1 billion, and the service added features like video chat, peer-to-peer payments and games, and opened up to developers.