Former US Gov’t Official, Capital One Exec Joins Payments Startup C Labs

Cryptocurrency payment startup C Labs has hired former United States government official Jai Ramaswamy to oversee the company’s compliance strategy.

On Nov. 26, Coindesk reported that Ramaswamy had joined C Labs, the company responsible for Celo, which is an open platform that makes financial tools accessible to anyone with a mobile phone.

Ramaswamy’s credentials

Also a former managing vice president at major credit card company Capital One, Ramaswamy will reportedly oversee the company’s strategy on global regulations, risk and compliance. Ramaswamy said that he is interested in helping C Labs understand its overall risk profile.

His LinkedIn profile further reveals that before being hired by C Labs his previous stint at Capital One, Ramaswamy worked as the global head of anti-money-laundering (AML) at the Bank of America. 

Prior to that position, he was the chief of the asset forfeiture & money laundering section at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), where he led the department’s efforts to monitor virtual currencies used by criminal organizations and prosecute facilitation of criminal activity by exchanges.

As Cointelegraph reported in February, Celo hired fellow payment network Circle’s Chuck Kimble. Kimble was involved in the company’s stablecoin launch as head of strategic partnerships.

Celo secured $30 million for stablecoin-based smartphone payment plans

In April, Celo raised $30 million from well-known crypto investors Polychain Capital and Andreessen Horowitz. The blockchain platform will use an in-house digital token and stablecoin to facilitate cross-border payments, primarily focusing on the unbanked using smartphones. Co-founder of Celo, Rene Reinsberg, said at the time:

“We see big potential in letting people — directly on their smartphone — access basic financial services [...] We are based on blockchain technology but for the average end user we try to abstract that away, to make the experience as easy as any other mobile app.”