Mumbai: CoinSwitch, India’s largest and the most-valued crypto unicorn, has appointed R Venkatesh as Senior Vice President of Public Policy. Venkatesh will work on policy, regulation, and external affairs to help create a regulatory framework for crypto assets in India, which fosters growth and innovation with consumer protection at the forefront.
Venkatesh comes with nearly 25 years of experience in policy and government relations spanning diverse industries, including e-commerce, oil and gas, liquor, banking, and tobacco, with complex policy challenges impacting business operations. Most recently, Venkatesh was the head of corporate affairs at MakeMyTrip India Pvt Ltd.
Ashish Singhal, Founder, and CEO, CoinSwitch, said, “I am delighted to welcome Venkatesh to the CoinSwitch team. His rich experience across organizations with significant Government interfaces will help accelerate our vision towards building a wealth-tech platform that customers and regulators can trust.”
R Venkatesh, Senior Vice President — Public Policy, CoinSwitch, said, “I am excited to join CoinSwitch on their mission to make money equal for all, keeping customer protection at the forefront. My top priority is to work closely with the industry and the Government to help create a progressive regulatory framework for this emerging but attractive asset class to support more Indians in their financial journey.”
CoinSwitch has raised $260 million in Series C funding from Coinbase Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) in September 2021 to become India’s most valued crypto Unicorn at a valuation of $1.9 billion.
CoinSwitch has been strengthening its management team with leadership appointments including Ashish Chandra (General Council), Krishna Hegde (Senior Vice President – New Initiatives), Jayram Krishnan (VP – Product), Nishant Das (Global Head of Talent Acquisition), Sarmad Nazki (CFO), Zeeshan Ramlan (Director and Head of HR). The company also appointed author and former journalist Jayadevan PK as Senior Director – Communications and Content as part of its efforts to create clutter-breaking stories around the company, its customers, and the industry across formats.
