Coinbase hires Pankaj Gupta from Google Pay to lead India centre

Coinbase, valued at $64 billion, is making its way into the Indian market and has hired a former Google executive to do the job. The US-based cryptocurrency firm has hired Pankaj Gupta, Google Pay’s former engineering lead in India and Asia Pacific, as the vice president of engineering and site lead for India.

Gupta took to social media to announce his appointment and said that he will be “responsible for leading and building from scratch the company’s technology hub in India.”

The cryptocurrency exchange recently made a blockbuster debut in the US stock market.

Coinbase in March this year, had announced its India entry and said that it is setting up a business presence in the country, where cryptocurrency remains shrouded in controversies and hasn’t yet gotten an approval from the government.

“We expect to open a physical office, initially in Hyderabad, for Indian employees as COVID-related conditions allow,” the company had said in a blog.

The company is now aggressively hiring in India and has openings for product and engineering roles. “India has world-class tech expertise and some of the brightest minds in the industry. Coinbase plans to tap and develop this local talent. The plan is to hire hundreds of employees, across all levels in Eng, PM & UX (engineering, product management and user experience) within the next 1–2 years to build out a full tech hub,” wrote Gupta on Twitter.

Gupta also added that Coinbase’s India expansion plans could also look at some possible acquisitions. “To support our ambitious growth plans in India, we will also explore startup acquisitions and acquihires,” he wrote. Business Insider