Skip to content
Executives

Adam White

Adam White was Coinbase's fifth employee and later president and COO of Bakkt, which he left at the end of 2021. Since 2022 he has been a senior advisor to Blackstone on crypto and blockchain investments.

Riccardo CuratoloBy Riccardo Curatolo 2 min read How we work
What do these badges mean?

Who he is

Adam White is a US executive and one of the pioneers of the institutional crypto industry. A former US Air Force flight test engineer (2006-2011) with an MBA from Harvard Business School (2013), he joined Coinbase in 2013 as its fifth employee, rising to vice president and general manager of the institutional business and the GDAX platform (later Coinbase Pro). In 2018 he moved to Bakkt, the digital asset platform created by Intercontinental Exchange (the parent company of the NYSE), as COO and first operating executive, later becoming its president. He left Bakkt on 31 December 2021, a few months after the company went public. Since 2022 he has advised Blackstone as a senior advisor on crypto and blockchain investments.

Current role

Senior Advisor at Blackstone for the crypto and blockchain sector, focused on the growth equity platform Blackstone Growth (BXG): a part-time advisory appointment begun in August 2022. It is the most recent publicly announced role, with no further updates announced since.

Career path

  • 2006-2013 — Flight test engineer in the US Air Force, then MBA at Harvard Business School.
  • 2013-2018 — Coinbase: fifth employee, rising to vice president and general manager of the institutional business (GDAX).
  • 2018-2021 — Bakkt (Intercontinental Exchange group): founding COO from 2018, then president from December 2019; leaves on 31 December 2021. Senior advisor at Blackstone from 2022.

Recent developments and controversies

There are no public controversies against him. After leaving Bakkt, by then already listed on the NYSE, White chose a lower profile: the Blackstone role (announced in August 2022) is advisory and cuts across the group's investment teams, at a time when the fund was exploring services and infrastructure for the digital asset ecosystem. Bakkt, for its part, has changed leadership several times since his departure: since March 2025 it has been led by co-CEOs Akshay Naheta and Andy Main.

FAQ

Who is Adam White? A US crypto executive: Coinbase's fifth employee (2013-2018), then COO and president of Bakkt (2018-2021), and today a senior advisor to Blackstone on crypto and blockchain (appointment begun in 2022; check updated to September 2026).

Does Adam White still work at Bakkt? No. He left Bakkt on 31 December 2021, when he was its president. Since August 2022 he has worked with Blackstone as a senior advisor on crypto investments.

See also

Verified sources

Promotional content

Related Articles

Nubank Embeds USDC and EURC in Banking Accounts for 35+ Countries Giulia Ferrante Giulia Ferrante 14 Sep 2026 Nubank Embeds USDC and EURC in Banking Accounts for 35+ Countries Nubank's Nu Global converts deposits into USDC and EURC for fee-free transfers across 35+ countries. The stablecoins stay invisible to users, but yield… China's AI Agent Era: 80% of Compute Could Shift to Inference by 2029 Giulia Ferrante Giulia Ferrante 13 Sep 2026 China's AI Agent Era: 80% of Compute Could Shift to Inference by 2029 A China Telecom Research Institute report forecasts inference could represent 80% of China's compute market by 2029, driven by AI agents outpacing training…
Revolut Tricked by Fake Government Request: Bitcoin History and IDs Exposed Revolut Tricked by Fake Government Request: Bitcoin History and IDs Exposed Hamza Ahmed 13 Sep 2026 India Settles $107M in Tokenized Bonds Using Digital Rupee CBDC India Settles $107M in Tokenized Bonds Using Digital Rupee CBDC Francesco Campisi 12 Sep 2026