Brian Brooks Appointed to the Board of The HBAR Foundation

Former Acting Comptroller of the Currency and Former Chief Legal Officer at Coinbase joins the Board to help accelerate growth of the Hedera network

Dallas, TX — Wednesday, 1 March — Brian Brooks, a fintech and global policy heavyweight, has joined the board of the HBAR Foundation, the organization helping drive adoption of the Hedera network. Brooks, who has substantial experience in financial policy, banking, digital assets and Web3, brings with him a wealth of experience to his new board duties. The HBAR Foundation to date has allocated funding of more than $408m and awarded over 225 grants to ground-breaking distributed ledger technology (DLT) projects, empowering entrepreneurs to build economies on the open source, leaderless proof-of-stake Hedera network.

Prior to joining Bitfury as CEO and board member, Brooks has served as the Acting Comptroller of the Currency, where he was the administrator of the federal banking system and the chief executive of the 3,500-employee federal agency responsible for chartering and supervising banks comprising 70 percent of all banking activity in the United States. He is the former Chief Legal Officer at Coinbase leading legal, compliance, internal audit, government relations at the nation's leading digital asset platform. He has also served as a member of the board of directors of Fannie Mae and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and a voting member of the Financial Stability Oversight Council. Often referred to in the media as “the first fintech Comptroller” and “CryptoComptroller” for his work advancing financial innovation, Mr. Brooks led the government’s efforts to provide regulatory clarity for stablecoins, digital asset custody, and the development of blockchain payment networks, and granted the first federal bank charter to a cryptocurrency company. He also launched Project REACh, a national partnership of civil rights organizations, tech companies, and banks to promote financial inclusion through greater access to credit and capital.

Brooks commented: “Advancing responsible, widespread adoption of DLT and Web3 is something I feel passionately about, and I’m thrilled to work with the talented teams across the HBAR Foundation to make this a reality. The HBAR Foundation, through a comprehensive grant program, has successfully grown awareness, accelerated access and increased commerce in the HBAR economy by providing expert support across technology, marketing and business development. Together we will continue to be thought-leaders and drive the industry forward to deliver on the vision of making Hedera the trust layer of the internet.”

Brooks has been rated by Cointelegraph as the 13th most influential person in crypto internationally; by Chambers & Partners as one of the 100 most influential general counsel in the world; by Legal 500 as one of the most innovative general counsel in the United States; and by Crunchbase as one of the top 10 influencers globally. In addition to this, he was recognized as "the most transformative Comptroller in recent history" by Consumer Bankers Association; a “forward-looking visionary” by CoinDesk; and “one of the most creative thinkers ever to lead a regulatory agency” by LendIt Academy. Brooks serves as an adviser and/or board member for numerous financial and fintech companies in the industry.

“Brian has been deeply involved in many of the most important financial, political, and policy events of the past 15 years. His hands-on experience, knowledge, and personal network in traditional and Web3 finance are unparalleled,” said Shayne Higdon, Co-founder and CEO of the HBAR Foundation. “As we move into the next phase of growth for the Foundation, with more next-generation enterprise distributed applications (dApps) coming on line and building an ecosystem together, we’re thrilled he is bringing his wisdom and insights to the Hedera community.”

Brooks joins existing board members Shayne Higdon, Jason Loh, and Robert Migliorino, with additional board members likely to be appointed in 2023. 

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‍About The HBAR Foundation

The HBAR Foundation supports the creation of Web3 communities built on the Hedera network, by empowering and funding the builders developing these communities. The Foundation’s six funds - focused on the Crypto Economy, Metaverse, Sustainability, Fintech, Privacy, and Female Founders - each support communities within those areas, and the interconnectedness enables applications to participate as part of a larger ecosystem. The collective power of these funds enables entrepreneurs, developers, and enterprises of all sizes to tackle some of the world’s largest problems, and create and control their own economies, all built on the Hedera public network. Whether you’re building something new or migrating an existing EVM-based application and community, the HBAR Foundation is here to support you. For additional information, please visit https://hbarfoundation.org/