MAM
Around 45% of our investors come from smaller cities: CoinSwitch Kuber’s Ashish Singhal
With an investment of one billion $ from over ten million Indians, the cryptocurrency sector in the country can no longer be termed a niche. As awareness about this emerging asset class increases, it’s catching the fancy of an increasing number of traditional-minded investors looking to diversify their investments, despite the industry lacking a clear regulatory framework. India has generally held a cautious approach towards use and transactions involving digital currencies, but it recently assured crypto stakeholders that there will not be any blanket ban on it. There are even indications that a new bill spelling out a regulatory framework for digital currency is on the cards.
Emerging cryptocurrency platform CoinSwitch Kuber that calls itself “Your friendly crypto app to buy, sell & store cryptos” is out to familiarise Indians with this new dimension of fintech. Founded by a team of techies from Amazon, Microsoft, and Zynga, the Bangalore-based startup claims to be the fastest-growing crypto exchange in India hitting “seven million users on the platform, within a year of its launch”. It was also the first brand in the Indian crypto space to launch an extensive campaign to bring the conversation around cryptos to the centrestage, with its ‘Trade Kar Befikar’ campaign.
IndianTelevision.com’s Anupama Sajeet spoke to CoinSwitch Kuber CEO & co-founder Ashish Singhal to understand the Indian crypto industry and the platform’s USP. Singhal shared insights on the demographic profile of the average crypto investor and how the brand plans to connect with potential users. He also discloses how their main challenge remains to educate and arm users with the right information about cryptocurrencies.
Edited excerpts:
On reaching out to potential investors
As leaders in this space, we are committed to providing investors/ potential investors with the right information about cryptocurrencies, clarifying their most common doubts, and explaining how they can safely invest in this new asset class. We recently launched a host of initiatives including video campaigns, ads on Disney+Hotstar, partnerships with OTT platforms like TVF. Along with this, we are also revamping the content on our blog KuberVerse and YouTube channel to educate our users about crypto, investing, and blockchain. We have increased the usage of infographics in our communication for easy understanding and have tried to incorporate vernacular content as well. To educate and update them, we regularly create relevant content in the form of blog posts in English and vernacular languages, visual content in the form of graphs and charts as well as videos that can help them understand the crypto world better.
On the demographic profile of the typical Indian crypto trader/ investor
To give you a sense of the user demographics, the majority of the users on CoinSwitch Kuber are between 18 and 35 years of age. But it is interesting to note that we have been witnessing a lot of traction from senior citizens and users above 45 years of age. Even people from Tier-2 and 3 towns have hitched onto the bandwagon with crypto. As much as 45 per cent of our users come from small cities.
On CoinSwitch Kuber’s USP
The primary thought behind launching CoinSwitch Kuber was to simplify crypto investments for Indian retail investors. We want to make crypto investing as easy as ordering food on Swiggy. There are many crypto exchanges in India designed to cater to traders with pro features. However, over 90 per cent of crypto buyers in India are retail investors. They just need a simple way to buy, sell and hold cryptocurrencies at the best rate and that is what we offer. That’s where we make a difference.
On the aim behind the ‘Trade Kar Befikar’ campaign
With ‘Trade Kar Befikar’, the aim was to showcase how it is a smart move to invest early in cryptocurrencies. Crypto has been the fastest-growing asset class of the last decade and the momentum is only growing stronger now. Through the ad campaign, we hoped to amplify this message to millions of young and upwardly mobile Indians. The response to it was great. The ad campaign, coupled with the simplicity of the platform, resulted in our user registrations going up by four times.
On the marketing plans for the current fiscal
We are exploring multiple avenues to attract user attention and educate them about crypto.
We would primarily focus on:
Ø Understanding users, about their needs and how their needs are evolving.
Ø Unique campaigns that would get mainstream attention, as mutual funds or stocks do.
Ø Engaging with thought leaders in the finance space.
Social media-led influencer marketing will be important for us.
On offsetting investor fears around the recent crash of Bitcoin prices
Like we always say, user education and awareness is the key. Investing in cryptocurrencies is similar to investing in any other asset class and one should invest basis their risk appetite. Volatility is natural in any emerging asset class, it is a part of market-making. Look at gold for example, and how it started.
On the uncertainty around the government policy on cryptocurrencies & the regulation
When regulated, crypto has the potential to immensely contribute to the Indian economy and we are hopeful that the regulators are taking cognizance of this fact. The need of the hour is to regulate the industry and unlock entrepreneurship and innovation in this field. We cannot afford to be left behind in a domain that will foster major innovation in the internet space in the times to come. Investors across the globe trust the Indian government and regulators to make the right decision and are therefore funding the best teams in the space.
On being future-ready & on the challenges he foresees in the Indian crypto-space
User awareness and education have been & will remain the foremost challenge for the crypto industry in India. We are working to solve this in various ways, as mentioned before. We are also looking to build on top of our current product stack by introducing several new features soon.
Brands
Estée Lauder to shed 10,000 jobs as new boss bets on digital shift
The cosmetics giant raises its profit outlook but stays silent on a possible merger with Spain’s Puig, as job cuts deepen and a three-year sales slump weighs on the turnaround
NEW YORK: Stéphane de La Faverie is not done cutting. Estée Lauder announced on Friday that it plans to eliminate as many as 3,000 additional jobs, taking its total redundancy programme to as many as 10,000 roles, up from a previous target of 7,000 announced a year ago. The company, which owns La Mer, The Ordinary, Tom Ford, and Aveda, employs roughly 57,000 people worldwide. The mathematics of what is now being contemplated is stark.
The fresh round of cuts is expected to generate a further $200 million in savings, bringing the total annual savings from the programme to as much as $1.2 billion before taxes. That money, De La Faverie has made clear, will be ploughed back into the turnaround.
A CEO in a hurry
De La Faverie, who took the helm in January 2025, inherited a company that had endured three consecutive years of annual sales declines. His response has been to move fast and cut deep. A significant portion of the latest redundancies reflects his push to reduce headcount at US department stores, long a cornerstone of Estée Lauder’s distribution model but now a channel in structural decline. In their place, he is accelerating the shift toward faster-growing online platforms, including Amazon.com and TikTok Shop, a pivot that is reshaping not just where Estée Lauder sells but how it thinks about its customers.
The numbers are moving in the right direction
Despite the pain, there are signs the medicine is working. Estée Lauder raised its profit outlook for the remainder of the fiscal year, guiding for adjusted earnings per share in the range of $2.35 to $2.45, above analyst estimates and a notable step up from the $2.05 to $2.25 range it had guided for in February. Organic net sales growth is expected to come in at 3 per cent, the company said, at the high end of the range it set out in February.
The share price tells a mixed story. After De La Faverie took charge, the stock surged nearly 60 per cent, buoyed by investor optimism that a longtime company insider could finally arrest the decline. But 2026 has been rougher: the shares have fallen 27 per cent this year, weighed down by disappointing February results and the overhang of unresolved merger talks with Spanish beauty giant Puig Brands SA. The company gave no additional details about those discussions on Friday, leaving the market to guess.
Silence on Puig
The proposed tie-up with Puig remains the most consequential unknown hanging over Estée Lauder. A deal with the Barcelona-based group, which owns brands including Carolina Herrera and Rabanne, would reshape the global luxury beauty landscape. But with nothing new to say and a turnaround still very much in progress, De La Faverie is asking investors to trust the process.
Three years of sales declines, 10,000 job cuts, and a merger that may or may not happen. At Estée Lauder, the overhaul has barely started.
