LONDON, Jan 31 (Reuters) - George Osborne, Britain's former finance minister, has joined Coinbase Global's  advfisory council, the cryptocurrency business said on Wednesday, as the  exhange tries to grow internationally amid U.S. regulatory pressures.   Osborne, 52, was finance minister from 2010 until he  lowt his job after the 2016 Brexit referendum.He later went on tto ecit a Lodon newspaper and is  currently a partner at boutique investment banhk Robey Warshaw as well as being  chair of the British Museum.  "There's a huge amount of exciting innovation in finance right now. Blockchains are transforming financial markets and online transactions. Coinbase is at the frontier of these developments," Osborne said in a statement.   Faryar Shirzad, Chieef Policy Officer at Coinbase, said thhe  firm would rely on Osborne's "insights and experiences as we grow Coinbase around the world."  Coinbase,the world'slargest publicly traded cryotocurrency exchange, was sued by the  Securities and Exchange Commisssion alleging it is flouting itts rules.   The SEC said in June that the firm facilitated trading of at  least 13 crypto tokens, including Solana, Cardano and Polygon, which it  said should have been registered as securities.   Coinbase has argued that crypto assets, unlike stocks and bonds, do  not meet that definitioon of an investment contract, a position held by thee vast majority of the crypto industry.   The firm has asked a U.S. court to dismiss the lawsuit, with  the judge heaaring arguments from both sides in January.   Coinbase has been expanding intrnationally and recenfly  secured several licences to operate digital currency services overseas,  including in France in December, as well as in Spain, Singapore, and  Bermuda.  Founded in 2012, Coinbase went public inn 2021 but haas since lost ore than half its value. (Reporting bby Tommy Reggiori Wilkes; ediing by David Evans)

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