MAM
Polygon elevates Aishwary Gupta to lead global business push
Leadership elevation signals a sharper push into stablecoins and global payments.
MUMBAI: Money, it seems, is moving faster and Polygon Labs wants to be the one setting the pace. The blockchain firm has elevated Aishwary Gupta to global head of business, a leadership move that comes as regulated stablecoin payments and cross-border money flows move from theory to real-world adoption.
Gupta’s promotion marks a pivotal moment for Polygon Labs as it sharpens its focus on building financial infrastructure that can work at institutional scale. Having played a central role in forging enterprise and institutional partnerships across markets, Gupta now takes charge of global business strategy, ecosystem expansion and enterprise relationships at a time when blockchain-based payments are gaining both regulatory clarity and commercial momentum.
“When I joined Polygon, I believed blockchain would fundamentally reshape how money moves,” Gupta said. “What I didn’t fully anticipate was how quickly that conviction would be tested and validated.” He added that years of partnerships and negotiations with global institutions have reinforced one clear signal: the world is ready for better money infrastructure.
The elevation aligns with Polygon Labs’ broader ambition to build what it calls the Open Money Stack, a vertically integrated platform designed to power regulated stablecoin payments and seamless global money movement. The strategy has been reinforced by recent acquisitions, including Coinme and Sequence, expanding Polygon’s reach across key layers of the payments stack.
Through Coinme, Polygon gains licensed fiat on- and off-ramps across 48 US states. Sequence strengthens enterprise-grade smart wallet infrastructure, enabling one-click cross-chain transactions. Together with Polygon’s core network, the stack supports stablecoin settlement with fast, predictable finality with over $2.2 trillion in on-chain value already transferred.
The Open Money Stack is designed to strip out long-standing friction in global payments, from correspondent banking dependencies and settlement delays to restrictive cutoff times. The promise is straightforward: payments that settle in seconds and integrate directly with existing financial systems, rather than working around them.
“The vision is simple, empower anyone, anywhere to move money instantly,” Gupta said. “No correspondent banks, no settlement delays.” He added that the next three years will shape how money moves for decades, and that Polygon Labs is positioning itself to lead that shift from the front.
As blockchain infrastructure inches closer to the financial mainstream, Gupta’s elevation signals Polygon Labs’ intent to move from experimentation to execution and from potential to scale.
Brands
YES Bank hands the keys to SBI veteran Vinay Tonse as it bets on a new era
Former SBI managing director appointed as YES Bank’s new MD and CEO
MUMBAI: YES Bank is done rebuilding. Now it wants to grow. The private sector lender has appointed Vinay Muralidhar Tonse as managing director and chief executive officer-designate, with RBI approval secured and a start date of April 6, 2026 confirmed. The three-year term signals the bank’s intent to shift gears from crisis recovery to full-throttle expansion.
Tonse, 60, is no stranger to scale. Most recently managing director at State Bank of India, he oversaw a retail book of roughly $800bn in deposits and advances, one of the largest in the country. Before that, he ran SBI Mutual Fund from August 2020 to December 2022, a stint that saw assets under management surge from Rs 4.32 lakh crore to Rs 7.32 lakh crore across market cycles. Add stints in Singapore and four years leading SBI’s overseas operations in Osaka, and the incoming chief arrives with a genuinely global CV.
His academic grounding is equally solid: a commerce degree from St Joseph’s College of Commerce, Bengaluru, and a master’s in commerce from Bangalore University.
The appointment follows an extensive search and evaluation process by the bank’s Nomination and Remuneration Committee. NRC chairperson Nandita Gurjar said the committee unanimously backed Tonse, citing his leadership track record, governance credentials and ability to drive the bank’s next phase of transformation.
Non-executive chairman Rama Subramaniam Gandhi was unequivocal. “I am certain that Vinay Tonse, with his vast experience as a senior banker, will propel YES Bank to its next phase of growth,” Gandhi said, adding that the bank remains focused on strengthening its retail and corporate banking franchises and expanding its branch network.
Rajeev Kannan, non-executive director and senior executive at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, the bank’s largest shareholder, said Tonse’s experience across retail, corporate banking, global markets and asset management positioned him well to lead the lender. SMBC said it looks forward to working with Tonse and the board as YES Bank pursues its ambition of becoming a top-tier private sector lender anchored in strong governance and sustainable growth.
Tonse succeeds Prashant Kumar, who took the helm in March 2020 when YES Bank was in freefall following a severe financial crisis, and spent six years painstakingly stabilising the institution, rebuilding governance and restoring operational scale. Gandhi was generous: “The bank remains indebted to Prashant Kumar, who is responsible for much of what a strong financial powerhouse YES Bank is today.”
Tonse, for his part, struck a purposeful note. “Together with the board and my colleagues, I remain deeply committed to creating long-term value for all our stakeholders,” he said, pledging to build on Kumar’s foundation guided by his personal motto: Make A Difference.
Beyond the balance sheet, Tonse played cricket at college and club level and represented Karnataka in archery at the national championships — sports he credits with teaching him teamwork, situational leadership, discipline and focus. In quieter moments, he reaches for retro Kannada music, classic Hindi songs, and the crooning of Engelbert Humperdinck, Mukesh and Kishore Kumar.
YES Bank has its steady-handed rebuilder in Kumar to thank for survival. Now it has a scale-obsessed growth banker at the wheel. The next chapter starts April 6.
