SV Icons: Mandeep Walia, Circle
Crypto meets regulations
The quality, depth, and scale of what institutions like Circle bring to the table are critical. Compliance has risen quickly to the top of crypto firms’ agendas as digital-asset prices rise and the space matures, which has also helped attract interest from regulators.
A couple of weeks ago, we had a chance to have dinner with Mandeep Walia, Head of Risk and Compliance at Circle, a global fintech unicorn. Mandeep
has over 10 years of experience in crypto, serving before as chief compliance officer and head of risk at Novi, a digital wallet for the Facebook-backed Diem digital currency project.
Mandeep sees the world where all transactions are recorded on-chain. Why? Because this way, we bring transparency to the history and remove friction to getting needed more information efficiently - by just looking in the chain.
“We talk about financial inclusion, innovation - there’s so much that can be done to improve the financial system. And risk management and compliance are not at odds with what we’re trying to achieve. - say Mandeep.
Circle is at a turning point where a company isn`t just a peer-to-peer payments technology company. It`s the whole crypto economy powering USDC and Euro Coin that drives the technological progress and adoption of web3 worldwide. Compliance is critical in this framework, taking into account past problems with crypto, including recent ones with Tornado cash and Blender.io.
“In the next few months and years to come, we want to have a robust and comprehensive risk, and compliance framework that positions us very strongly to demonstrate to regulators, external stakeholders, and our customers that control is central to us,” said Mandeep.
Mandeep will also help customize existing risk and compliance frameworks to the size and needs of Circle, such as assessing risk appetite and working with regulators in various jurisdictions to set standards and rules. That also includes ensuring that “compliance culture is in the DNA of the business”.
Organizer: Georgi Koreli
Host: Chinghiz Dzhumanazarov
Editor: Jacky Lin