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Google Exec Joins Circle as VP for Strategy & Expansion

With over 15 years of experience in government and tech, he will be crucial to the firm's regional expansion efforts.

Yam Ki Chan (Image: LinkedIn)

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Yam Ki Chan has joined stablecoin issuer Circle as its vice president of strategy and expansion, based in Singapore.

Announcing the appointment on LinkedIn, Circle VP Asia Pacific, Raagulan Pathy called it a "very important role to help us pave the way, as we enter new markets."

According to his LinkedIn profile, Yam has "over 15 years of experience translating between technology and economic policies and business objectives in high-intensity roles at multinationals, investment bank, and government."

Yam joins the company from Google, where he spent six years, based in Singapore and Hong Kong, most recently as strategy and operations lead for payments and partnerships for its Next Billion Users initiative.

Read more: Crypto Fraud: Ex-Investment Banker at Deutsche Bank Accused

Previously, Yam managed the US government's interagency process through the National Security Council and National Economic Council to develop the United State’s economic policy with Asian economies, with a focus on China, Japan, and South Korea, and spent four years at the US Treasury, after beginning his career as an investment banking analyst.

Asia Focus

Circle hols an in-principle approval for a license under the Payment Services Act in Singapore, and is looking to open in Hong Kong.

“Asia and emerging markets are likely to become the biggest sources of liquidity,” Pathy said in an interview with DigFin last week. “We see an incredible demand for digital dollars,” he added.

Circle's USDC is the second-largest stablecoin globally, with a market capitalization of around US$32 billion and a 24-hour trading volume of around US$4.5 billion.


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