George Osborne has taken a job at Coinbase as the cryptocurrency exchange considers moving to Britain.
The former chancellor is joining the US-listed company’s global advisory council in what will be his 11th current role, including unpaid positions.
The former chancellor is a partner at boutique investment bank Robey Warshaw, co-founder of a Silicon Valley investment firm run by his brother, chairman of the British Museum and the Northern Powerhouse Partnership.
He also chairs an investment firm owned by one of Italy’s richest families and holds academic positions at the US Hoover Institute, the McCain Institute, Stanford Business School and the University of Manchester.
Finally, Mr Osborne, who is the former Evening Standard editor, has also taken up podcasting with the ex-Labour shadow chancellor Ed Balls.
Mr Osborne said: “There’s a huge amount of exciting innovation in finance right now… Coinbase is at the frontier of these developments. I look forward to working with the team there as they build a new future in financial services.”
Coinbase launched its global advisory council last year as it sought to repair ties with US regulators. The crypto exchange has been sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly allowing the trade of unregistered securities, which it denies.
The row has prompted Coinbase’s chief executive, Brian Armstrong, to threaten to move his business out of the US.
In an interview with Mr Osborne at an event last year, the Coinbase boss claimed US officials were punishing the cryptocurrency industry and would not rule out moving to the UK in the future.
Mr Armstrong said: “The UK is our second largest market. We are not seeing regulatory clarity in the US. We may have to consider investing elsewhere. Anything is on the table, including relocating.”
He added that he would consider re-listing the business in London rather than New York, since the US had failed to bring in clear laws for cryptocurrency businesses.
Rishi Sunak has sought to woo cryptocurrency companies and claimed he wants to make Britain a “global crypto hub”. So far, however, UK regulators have failed to take a clear stance on cryptocurrency companies and several businesses have pulled out of Britain.
Other members of Coinbase’s advisory council include Mark Esper, the former US secretary of defence, as well as former US senators and congressmen.
Mr Osborne is one of several current and former Tories politicians who have taken up roles in the cryptocurrency industry, despite concerns over the role of digital currency in financial scams, ransomware, hacking and sanctions evasion.
Former chancellor Lord Hammond serves as an adviser to UK crypto company Copper, while Lord Vaizey, the former digital minister, is on the global advisory board of Binance.