The Block: Coinbase hires Lyft and Google alum to lead engineering team

Coinbase has tapped Lyft's former vice president of engineering to take a leading role on its engineering team. Manish Gupta is joining the exchange as executive vice president of engineering, according to an announcement from the firm.

Gupta spent 16 years on Google's engineering team, eventually as a VP, before moving to Lyft. At Google, Gupta's efforts were focused on the tech giant's advertising platform. At Lyft, he lead teams focused on the development of the main rideshare product.

In the announcement, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong indicated that Gupta's hiring comes at a time of flux for the exchange, and that Gupta's leadership skills amid change are as valuable to Coinbase's plans as his engineering experience. The firm recently announced a "remote-first" policy that would allow most employees to work from home.

"The opportunities and challenges at Coinbase and in crypto couldn’t be greater — more people than ever are experiencing the benefits of cryptocurrency, and want access to new crypto-native products and services," read the announcement. "Meanwhile, Coinbase is undergoing a shift to being a remote-first company, which will unlock potential but also require the company to learn and iterate within a remote-first culture."

Gupta's installation comes a month after reports indicating the exchange is looking to go public. Sources told Reuters the firm could go public as early as this year, and that it's exploring a direct listing as opposed to an initial public offering (IPO).