WEF’s blockchain head will lead the Crypto Council for Innovation

CCI board member Fred Ehrsam cited the WEF executive’s “in-depth knowledge of crypto” in addition to her experience working with governments across the globe.

Sheila Warren, the head of blockchain and distributed ledger technology at the World Economic Forum, will be assuming the position of chief executive officer of the Crypto Council for Innovation, or CCI, starting in February.

In a Monday announcement, the CCI said that beginning on Feb. 2, Warren would lead the alliance of crypto-friendly firms aimed at supporting lawmakers on crypto and blockchain regulation. CCI board member and Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam cited the WEF executive’s “in-depth knowledge of crypto” in addition to her experience working with governments across the globe.

“The crypto ecosystem is poised to deliver large-scale economic growth, empower communities, and improve lives all over the world,” said Warren. “I am excited to drive CCI’s mission of realizing the transformative potential of crypto through education and advocacy for a responsible, forward-thinking global policy environment that will ensure that crypto’s benefits are accessible to all people, regardless of their current economic privilege.”

We’re honored to announce @sheila_warren as the new CEO of CCI. Sheila will lead us in demonstrating and communicating the transformational promise of crypto to policymakers, regulators, and people around the globe. #FutureofInnovation https://t.co/ETGcYGp8SK

— Crypto Council for Innovation (@crypto_council) January 31, 2022

Formed in April 2021, the CCI includes supporters like Coinbase, Fidelity Digital Assets, Paradigm, Ribbit Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and Block — formerly Square. In July, the group hosted a virtual event called “The ₿ Word” exploring how institutions could potentially adopt Bitcoin (BTC) and blockchain technology.

As one of the major cryptocurrency exchanges, Coinbase seems to have stepped up its efforts to lobby lawmakers in the United States around “sensible regulation.” However, Ripple Labs led an expensive campaign around the Securities and Exchange Commission’s treatment of XRP tokens as securities, spending $690,000 on lobbying in 2020 without any concrete results in this area.

During her time at the WEF, Warren explored central bank digital currencies and promoted the adoption of blockchain technology. She has spoken at a number of events in the crypto space including the Hyperledger Global Forum and Unitize conferences, and previously written for Cointelegraph on the importance of crypto as an educational tool for empowering diversity and financial inclusion.