Focusing on APAC
TL;DR We are taking a more focused approach in the near-term while also building for the long-term in APAC. With our Singapore tech hub and recent regulatory approval, we are building our business from the region for the region. Furthermore, John O’Loghlen will be expanding his role as Regional Managing Director APAC, in addition to his current role as Country Director Australia. And, Katie Mitchell has joined Coinbase, as Director of APAC Public Policy, to lead our work with policymakers in the region.
Building for the region, from the region is a guiding principle of our international strategy. Promoting and hiring local leadership, coupled with securing our IPA (In Principle Approval) from the Monetary Authority of Singapore to provide regulated Digital Payment Token services in the island state, opens up possibilities for us to do even more for all our customers - retail consumers, institutional clients, and developers - in the country, where we have established and grown a tech hub that serves the entire APAC region.
We are excited to announce that John O’Loghlen will be expanding his role at Coinbase. In addition to being Australia’s Country Director, he has been appointed Regional Managing Director of APAC. He will lead the company’s focused approach in the region in 2023, and bolster our long term commitment to APAC. Additionally, a couple of days ago, it was announced that John has also been appointed to the board of Blockchain Australia, the country’s peak industry network for businesses implementing or evaluating blockchain technology.
Another recent strategic upgrade to our APAC leadership team is Katie Mitchell, who joined Coinbase as APAC Head of Policy to continue leading on our commitment to driving regulatory clarity and thoughtful crypto-forward policy in partnership with governments. Prior to Coinbase, Katie built and led global policy and engagement for Crypto.com. She also spent over a decade at Visa across the Washington DC and Asia Pacific offices, in various strategy and government relations positions. Katie currently serves as an Advisory Board Member to the Emerging Payments Association Asia, she was one of the leading members of Singapore’s inaugural Payments Sub-Committee under the Singapore Fintech Association, and served as chair of the inaugural Web 3.0 Sub-Committee.
Hassan Ahmed, our Singapore Country Director, will continue to lead our efforts in the country.
John, Katie, along with the various functional leads based out of the Lion City, and other country teams in APAC will continue making inroads in the region, bringing even more people to the forefront of Web3 innovation.
About Nana Murugesan
Nana Murugesan is the Vice President of International and Business Development at Coinbase where he leads the company’s international operations and global partnerships. Previously, he was the Managing Director of International Markets at Snap Inc. where he led Snapchat’s international expansion and strategic partnerships.
Earlier in his career, Nana was the Vice President and General Manager at Samsung, where he served in a number of strategy, partnerships, and operations roles to launch and grow their Galaxy smartphone and services business, notably Samsung Pay. He also held product roles at Cisco and strategy consulting roles at BCG.
Nana received his BE in Engineering from the University of Madras, MS in Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
