OKCoin Brings Two Industry Vets Onboard Amid Global Expansion

Global crypto exchange, OKCoin, has added two new members to its top bass — Haider Rafique, Blockchain.com's former head of growth, and Megan Monroe-Coleman, Coinbase's previous compliance executive.

Megan Monroe-Coleman comes on board as the outfit's global chief compliance officer, while Haider Rafique takes the role of global chief marketing officer, said a statement provided to Cointelegraph. 

OKCoin in the midst of expansion

OKCoin has shown several expansion efforts so far in 2020. The exchange brought in former Goldman Sach's staff, Hong Fang, as CEO in early March. At the same time, the entity's former CEO transitioned into a government relations role. 

Headquartered in San Francisco, OKCoin also gained FinCEN regulatory licensing, while pushing forward with state-specific approvals. At a global scale, OKCoin provides a fiat on-ramp to crypto trading for 184 countries currently, the statement said.    

Catering to the world's second largest crypto trading population, OKCoin gained updated licensure in Japan roughly two months ago, allowing the exchange to offer trading in the country beginning in July, Monroe-Coleman told Cointelegraph via email. The updates relate to recent changes in Japan's regulatory requirements.    

The U.S. leads finance

"The U.S. is of course the leader market for financial institutions and services," Monroe-Coleman said, circling back to North America. OKCoin looks to grow its crypto space involvement, in part through its fiat currency options and access on the exchange. 

Still in its early stages, Monroe-Coleman said that the crypto space has significant growth potential, pointing toward OKCoin as a way for more people to get involved. 

With Bitcoin's halving only days away, Rafique said OKCoin team analysis has revealed a number of new market participants based on internet searches and social analytics. "What we are seeing is a wave of new investors learning about 'Bitcoin halving' in context of quantitative easing and related keywords," he said, adding:

"I think it's fascinating that the third Bitcoin halving is taking place during these unprecedented times. This could become a forcing mechanism that drives in new investors into crypto markets.”

As the crypto space expands, OKCoin is not alone it its fiat crypto exchange offerings and expansion. India, for example, recently saw a new fiat exchange pop up after the country removed its digital asset ban.