I think the two board members mentioned definitely fail the "Independent" test but in the grand scheme of things at least Fred Wilson as a VC has a basket of ot

I think the two board members mentioned definitely fail the "Independent" test but in the grand scheme of things at least Fred Wilson as a VC has a basket of other companies that he/his firm own shares in so he's not as materially invested as Fred Ehrsam is (not condoning Coinbase labelling either as independent, just adding some colour to the discussion). Unfortunately companies do this a lot, and even companies that are in the public eye. I think I read somewhere (Damodaran's blog) that when Disney was being run by Michael Eisner, half the board was insiders and some of the independent directors included the CEO's personal attorney, his kid's school teacher, etc.