Elke: 0:00

Getting started in crypto isn't as daunting as that it might sound. It is very simple. You install an app, it being ours or another one's, you go through a very simplistic onboarding flow and then, with as little as five euros, you can start buying your first crypto and just see how it feels and get comfortable with it.

Joeri: 0:17

Hello everyone and welcome to the Web3 CMO Stories podcast. My name is Juri Bilast and I'm your podcast host, and today I'm so excited to be joined by Elke Juri, great to meet you.

Elke: 0:29

I'm very happy to think you're coming Excited to be here.

Joeri: 0:33

Happy to have you guys. If you don't know, elke Elke Kerskens. She's the County Director for Coinbase Benelux and Nordics, after having led Coinbase in the UK for a year and before joining Coinbase, she had leadership roles at Facebook, where she ran their international consumer marketing organization and led partnerships for Workplace. Prior to that, she worked in product and partnership marketing at Skype and started her career at TomTom in 2005. Well, those are really nice names to hear. You have a lot of experience at assist tech companies With this journey, elke, at this leading tech companies. I'm curious how did those experiences shape your leadership role or leadership style?

Elke: 1:24

I would say no, it's funny when you say, sometimes we're going back like plus 20 years at this point. So for those of you who are a little bit younger that are listening to this podcast, like portable navigation device, which was back then like massive no, but like over the course of my career, I've really had the unique opportunity of really being at the forefront of transformative changes really in how people communicate and how they connect and they engage with the world around them. At Skype, I had the opportunity to be part of a team that truly revolutionized global communication, breaking down barriers in how people connect. And then later at Facebook, I was part of the team it was a large team already by the time that I joined, but very much part of the team that really changed how people were building communities, how they were connecting and communicating with each other. And then here at Coinbase, a very similar challenge to really disrupt traditional finance.

Elke: 2:14

Coinbase is obviously a global crypto exchange, but we like to think of ourselves as a lot more than just a trading platform. We are very much a one-stop shop where we play a meaningful role in everything within the crypto economy. So we have obviously like our trading solutions for beginners and tenders, but also for more advanced audiences. But we also offer a suite of services for institutional partners. We offer services for developers, so we really like to think of ourselves as this one-stop shop for everything within the crypto economy and as an organization, we're very much laser focused, creating global economic freedom. We believe that the traditional financial system as it's existed for over a hundred years is outdated and fair, and we are focused on bringing basically a billion people on chain and make a meaningful impact in in the opportunities, the economic opportunities that people have.

Elke: 3:08

But to come back to your question more around like leadership, I think what all of these companies very much in common, or well have in common, is that they have technology that drives innovation and they operate very much at a global reach and skill. And they are building or they have been building or they still are I'm just no longer employed by them but products that are truly user-centric, and they also have to continue to innovate and adopt in ever-changing environments. And having been part of that journey multiple, multiple times now, it really has taught me as a leader to remain agile and adaptable in the face of technology and market changes, especially here within the crypto space. With what happened back in 2022 with the collapse of FTX. There have been movements within this space that I couldn't have foreseen when I'd taken this job.

Elke: 3:57

So remaining agile and being able to adapt within those very fast-paced environments, I think is absolutely crucial to be successful.

Elke: 4:05

Those very fast-paced environments, I think, is absolutely crucial to be successful. But I think what all these companies have also taught me is that being data-driven and customer-centric focus is absolutely crucial, really ensuring that decisions are both strategic but also user-centric, because, at the end of the day, you have to be building products that people actually want to use, that solve a real-life problem that they're having, despite what perhaps other people's opinions might be answered. And then I think also it's very much like what I've learned is scaling teams and solutions while fostering collaboration and resilience in very disruptive times. So it's been a fascinating journey. Also, every time I've joined these companies, we were in where we are today, and perhaps at Coinbase we still have quite a long way ahead of us in crypto. Having been at that forefront has taught me a lot and I like to bring, I guess, those lessons with me to every role that I go to next, being at Coinbase now leading the Nordics and the Benelux, as you mentioned at your introduction.

Joeri: 4:58

Wow, and thank you for such an elaborated answer. I found already a lot of golden nuggets in there, all these experiences. Of course they add up and, as you say, tom Tom, it was always some time ago, but then you have. You will learn so much by all these different experiences. Now Coinbase is a global leader. I also love your mission. It's really a trusted name, but then you are responsible for Panalux and for the Nordics. So then I'm curious what your priorities are, or maybe your approach for these.

Elke: 5:31

I love that question because building and offering a product doesn't always look the same in the markets in which you're trying to enter. My key priority is really executing Coinbase's go broad and go deep strategy, which more or less means our international expansion efforts. 80% of global crypto trading actually happens outside of the US today and we suspect that within the next five years that number is going to increase even further. And if you think about crypto and where crypto stands today, there are use cases like store of value and trading that are super well established. But in order for crypto to truly reach its potential, we want to expand those use cases even further. And the use cases for people, especially in markets where they have concerns or no access to traditional financial institutions not institutions, just a product very much gives us a greater opportunity to have an impact as well.

Elke: 6:25

We, as an organization, are focused on a set of markets where we believe we can truly make our mission a reality, and we're focused on markets where we believe there's a very healthy regulatory landscape, where there are frameworks in place that allow us to really build out and expand our business in a compliant way, and the Benelux and Nordics are part of that. They have had very robust regulatory frameworks in place for quite a while right now. But we also see, especially in a market like the Netherlands, for example, which actually is my hometown, that there is a lot of enthusiasm for crypto. It's actually the most crypto-curious country within Europe right now of enthusiasm for crypto. It's actually the most crypto-curious country within Europe right now, and the proof point of that is the fact that right now, almost 3 million people in the Netherlands actually hold crypto, which is about 16% of the population, and that has significantly increased since 2020, when the number was only 9%. And as we're thinking about and are expanding on this Go Broad and Go Deep strategy, we believe it's incredibly important to have leaders in place that very much understand that local nuance, that speak the language, and that they know what it is, again going back to the point of like user-centric products, that understands what it might be that people truly need.

Elke: 7:40

And to give you an example of that, like ask anybody in the UK, for example, what's ideal is the payment method. They won't have any idea, and that makes total sense. Why would they? In a market like the Netherlands, not having ideals of payment method integrated is completely unreasonable, because it's the most trusted payment methods in order to get funds anywhere from A to Z. So we're very much focused here on ensuring that the product that we're building meets the needs of, for example, a local market like the Netherlands.

Elke: 8:11

And what we've also been seeing in markets that fall within my region is thriving crypto communities that we want to be able to partner with and collaborate with really to drive skilled adoption of crypto over time. My job is very much one that has two sides to it. I spend a good chunk of my time very much on growing the business, so that includes marketing, establishing the right type of partnerships, etc. But on the other side, also ensuring that we operate in a compliant way. So there's a lot happening as we speak and, yeah, we remain focused on building the best possible solution for our customers in those markets.

Joeri: 8:49

Indeed, as you say, there's a lot happening. There is always a lot happening in crypto. But yeah, talking about regulations, you mentioned it already I'm curious how Coinbase does navigate this complex environment, because there are different European regions and different impacts, of course, impact on the growth, yeah, so I'm curious. No, it's a very good question.

Elke: 9:11

Yeah, regulation is very much a hot topic, not just here in Europe but around the world. But Coinbase is an organization that has compliance forefront in everything that we're doing, so we wholeheartedly welcome regulation forefront in everything that we're doing. So we wholeheartedly welcome regulation. And Europe is very much running a leading example once again by having introduced MICA. So MICA is a very comprehensive European-wide regulatory framework that provides very clear borders in what's possible and isn't possible for players within the space and by obtaining a MICA license, successful applicants and companies will be able to passport to all countries within the European Union and we wholeheartedly welcome this.

Elke: 9:52

And it is incredibly important that regulation is in place because, at the end of the day, when there is a lack of trust with consumers it being in whatever type of emerging technology it might be that we're referring to If there's a lack of trust, there's a lack of willingness to engage, a lack of willingness to invest, but on the flip side, a clear regulation provides consumer trust.

Elke: 10:16

Consumer trust will unlock for a lot of people that confidence to actually start participating within this space.

Elke: 10:21

So we are incredibly excited about Mika and we are applying for our MICA application license application from Ireland, and we chose Ireland because of the Irish regulator is world-renowned, very much seen as one of the best regulators within this space, but in Ireland we also have a very large operational team in place already, and we also believe that, once we actually have our license in hand, that we will be able to tap into the talent that currently is available in Ireland, because getting your license is one, but being able to remain compliant is obviously like really what is the big component, and comes after that.

Elke: 11:02

So teams are laser focused on ensuring that we get things right, and it's also worth probably mentioning that the standard that Europe is setting is in such stark contrast to what we're seeing within the US right now, where regulation is very much shaped through enforcement instead of collaboration with the industry, which is very much what happened here. So I think as Europeans, we can be proud of what's happening here, example, hopefully, for other jurisdictions that are still looking at what a comprehensive crypto regulatory framework looks like, and that they will be able to take chapters from Mika and hopefully apply that to their own regulatory framework whenever their time comes. I'm very much generalizing here, and so we're very much excited about the future of crypto in Europe thanks to this comprehensive regulatory framework, yeah, being in place.

Joeri: 12:51

Thank you for all your positive vibes around that, mika. I also hear a lot of positive things about it, so it should not be a bad thing. Regulations, because if you want crypto for the masses, you won't have trust with people also now listening to this podcast, you have also people that are not yet in Web3 or hesitating, or they hear a lot of negativity about scams. So then I'm wondering because on the marketing side, you worked for Facebook, skype, you led marketing what are maybe some of those experiences that you can apply now, today, because it's a specific market, of course, crypto, anything you can share about that? Yeah, I think like throughout my career.

Elke: 13:29

What what I've been taught is the importance of trust, especially when it comes to dealing with complex technologies, and I think one of the areas that is crucial here is obviously education as well. This is still very much an emerging technology. There are a lot of people who already own crypto and that believe in the possibility of this technology and the changes and the impact that it can have, but unfortunately, because of what happened back in 2022, the industry has gotten a bit of a black eye, to be completely transparent. So education is absolutely crucial, and we at Coinbase are laser focused at ensuring we have the right type of education in place, especially for people that are about to embark in this journey. My advice to anybody would be that it's important that you do a lot of your research to decide what type of company exchange you decide to start your crypto journey in, but also that you very much assess the type of risk that you're willing to take and how much money you would potentially be willing to lose or not. And in order to get that confidence before you make those decisions, we, as Coinbase, provide very comprehensive education. So if you go to our website today, there's a learn section with hundreds of articles about the technology, about different tokens, so that you can get very much versed in this space before you make that decision.

Elke: 14:57

The other thing I would say is that getting started in crypto isn't as daunting as that it might sound. It is very simple. You install an app it being ours or another one's you go through a very simplistic onboarding flow and then, with as little as five euros, you can start buying your first crypto and just see how it feels and get comfortable with it. But again, going back to your question more on, like the lessons that I was taught is very much that like trust is crucial, and trust gets built by the different components of a product that you offer, but also how you end up actually marketing. That.

Elke: 15:29

The other thing in marketing is obviously crucial is really deeply understanding your audience, because what I was just talking about reverts very much to people that are new to something like crypto, but there are people who are much more advanced within this space as well.

Elke: 15:42

So the way we tailor our messages very much varies based on who it is that we're trying to reach and, ultimately, what it is that we want to convey to them, and the communications that people pick up are also on different type of platforms. A beginner is very unlikely to be in crypto Twitter or, I should say, xstage. They're probably on other platforms. So, again, depending on who we're targeting, we use a very different media mix, but it all ends up coming down to really understanding your audience. It isn't rocket science at the end of the day, but making sure that you build trust with your audience and that you understand who the audience is and very much tailor your media mix in order to reach the right people at the right time is very much the lesson that I've been taught, having marketed very complex and different type of technologies.

Joeri: 16:29

Yeah, that all makes sense because in Web3, or crypto Twitter, as you call it, there is a lot of hype. People in marketing. They need to create hype for some projects. But this is if you want to have a larger audience, if you want to appeal people coming to crypto, as you say. It's not so complex because people pay with a credit card that they don't ask, they just put their code and they pay. It should not be complex because sometimes it's mid-complex because we use a lot of complex terms in the way how we explain it. You mentioned education. Are there any examples that you can give us?

Elke: 17:01

Education is very much a key pillar of FrameBase's mission to increase economic freedom and, as mentioned earlier, we have a suite of educational materials available.

Elke: 17:11

If you go to our website, there's on the top navigation menu a section called Learn. That provides hundreds of different articles about different tokens, different pieces of the technology explained in a very easy to understand way. But also within the product, we ensure that we offer educational components, so you will see a product like learning rewards. These are very short curriculums, like stories that you go through, and once you've completed the little training, we incentivize you with a little bit of crypto and that's very much to ensure that people remain and understand the space that they're participating in as well. But we also believe that education and responsibility doesn't just sit with the exchanges. It also very much sits with the regulators and, of course, the community surrounding that. So we continue to work in lockstep with regulators to ensure that they understand the impact and importance of crypto and that regulatory frameworks are being designed in such a way that it doesn't still consumer trust. So education comes from a variety of different components, but very much it's a priority for us as an organization.

Joeri: 18:19

Yeah, I love that. I also try to do this with my podcast, of course, as we explain people to discuss. I always learn by talking to people like you on the podcast after 200 episodes. I always learn by talking to people like you on the podcast after 200 episodes. And what's always interesting to hear is, of course, lots of things are happening in this space. There are lots of trends. So what are the emerging trends in blockchain and in crypto that you maybe are the most excited about and maybe that influence your strategy?

Elke: 18:48

What's an exciting time to be in crypto. I honestly can't wait in 10 years, when we reflect on this point in time, when crypto is going to be as mainstream as we obviously would like it to be, yeah, and reflect on all of the different innovations that we've seen come to light. And to give you a couple of specific examples, we're very excited about the Layer 2s, which have been particularly impactful and we believe that their use cases will be able to fuel further jobs. At Coinbase, we launched our own layer two base back in 2023. So that's actually only last year, which has now become the largest roll-up in terms of total value locked. But base also leads in user activity, with about one and a half million daily active addresses. So very important area of our business are these. Layer twos leads in user activity, with about one and a half million day active addresses. So very important area of our business are these layer twos. We also are excited about the Lightning Network very much, reducing transaction cost and time as much as absolutely possible. We work together with LightSpark to integrate that. So I think, yeah, the Lightning Network is another great example on how layer twos can have a meaningful impact and we believe, by being able to get, especially on the bay side, like a million developers on chain. That will ultimately get us to a billion people on chain as well. So the layer twos are really fundamental to our mission.

Elke: 20:05

The second thing I think that we're very excited about, which was obviously the approval of the ETFs. That happened at the beginning of this year. It's incredibly difficult to predict the future, which I can't do if I choose that. It would be a different episode of the Spot Cup, but we do really anticipate more institutional adoption and more mainstream adoption to take place, because this regulatory clarity is emerging and obviously the ETF approval earlier this year was very much like a seal and stamp of approval that crypto as an asset class is here to stay. So super excited about that.

Elke: 20:40

And then potentially like my third not my third the third and my personal favorite is that very much around stable coins, because stable coins very much provide a real use case. When you think about markets like Argentina or Madagascar, where people are really dealing with insane inflation, stable coins truly provide a safe haven. And what we're also really excited about is seeing global payment giants like PayPal and Stripe seeing that value as well and taking the next steps Via Circle, merchants on Stripe can now make payments in USCC via Ethereum, solana and Polygon, with payments automatically converting into Shiat currencies, which is incredible. And then, on the PayPal side, like, paypal is now supporting cross-border transfers for stable coins and to over 160 countries with no transaction fees, which is insane if you think about that. Those fees normally are somewhere with I don't know, four or even seven percent.

Elke: 21:44

These are fundamentally the use cases that are really really going to normalize the use of crypto and stablecoins. Therefore, in a way that people almost don't even know that they're engaging with crypto or not. So the seal of approval of organizations like that and them believing within this space, I find incredibly energizing and exciting. So there were just a couple of examples of like things. Yeah, brent said that we, and I personally are excited about.

Joeri: 22:12

Yeah, I'm excited about those two. Actually, I had two people from Serfco on my podcast not so long ago. Yeah, matt Jeremy also ran a lot of advice Blockchain Week. And then you know it's I love that company, everything that they are doing. Stablecoin can just be like. It's not about calculating, it's a way to pay, to transfer money. And then what you mentioned about the ETF and BlackRock and Larry Fink saying that he made a mistake Bitcoin is something real.

Elke: 22:39

This shows again the trust what will pull again the trust, like when BlackRock shows crypto. That again will then fuel the trust. That's longer till consumer, aka retail, will also show they believe that's a sign of trust for the yeah, basically for the extended industry.

Joeri: 22:59

Absolutely, absolutely. We talked already about people that maybe want to start to use crypto, just maybe, or invest in it or just as a means to save their money, if you can call fiat money but then I would also ask you if you have, maybe, advice, for there are also a lot of entrepreneurs listening to this podcast leaders in their company, and they also want to keep ahead of everything that's happening, because so much is happening, and maybe, if you have a look at Europe, what would you advise those people? I love that question and to sort of go you're talking about.

Elke: 23:33

like do we call fiat money or not? Like we think crypto is a sheet shirt money. And what's my piece of advice would be is that very often when people think about regulation, people don't think that it will still allow for innovation. But we see that incredibly different. We actually see it the opposite. We believe that regulation allows for innovation.

Elke: 23:55

So when you're getting started within this space, don't be worried or held back by the fact that this very comprehensive regulation is coming in. See it as a differentiator. Focus on understanding the regulation and how do you become compliant with it, because being compliant with regulation is a business differentiator. It's going to increase, probably, the appetite of investors that you're probably speaking to and are looking to invest in your business, and what they are looking for are not people that don't believe in compliance and doing the right thing. They want to see organizations that have compliance at the center of what they're doing and what they're building. So it's going to very much create a competitive edge by investing and understanding it. So it might perhaps not be what the outset and intent of something was at the beginning, but embracing it can probably set you apart from a lot of different players as well, and something investors are absolutely going to to love.

Elke: 24:50

I think the other thing is that, like, transparency and trust, are very much the cornerstones of success in crypto, for fostering trust with your consumers the people that you're targeting and regulators if you have the opportunity to work with them which in most jurisdictions likely will be the case and and partner with organizations that share a similar vision and mindset and can help you grow and establish a really meaningful business likely will be the case and partner with organizations that share a similar vision and mindset and help you grow and establish a really meaningful business.

Elke: 25:14

The other thing is that I probably would say lastly, is that things move super, super quickly here, so really trying to stay informed and up to speed on everything that is happening within this space is also absolutely crucial. When you compare the industry to where we are now, compared to four years ago, so much has changed and things have evolved. So really staying up to speed on all of the innovations that are happening and seeing how you can capitalize on that by, for example, working on base or whatever it might end up being that it is that you're doing is also absolutely crucial as well. So those are probably my nuggets for those that are looking to start their journey in crypto.

Joeri: 25:54

Well, thanks, elke, for sharing those and sharing for all this value in this podcast episode. Now, if people now listening or watching, if they want to hear more or learn more about Coinbase, what Coinbase is doing and so on, where would you like me to send them?

Elke: 26:10

I think our website is probably the best place to send people. As mentioned, it's a lot of educational materials. It's also the easiest way to create an account in a matter of minutes. But it also obviously lists all of our blogs, so big announcements that we are making across our entire business and are listed there as well. So coinbasecom is probably the best place to learn more about us as a business, and you might or might, I think what people will be able to see there as well is, again, that we offer products for people that are about to start within crypto. We offer products for those more sophisticated traders and, finally, people can learn more about our institutional or insto solutions, as well as what we have available for development. Everything one wants to know and learn about of Coinbase can be found on our website. So Coinbase at Commodities A little speech at the end there.

Joeri: 27:01

Yeah, that's not difficult, but anyway I will put the link in the show notes. Like always, there is also a blog article. There are show notes linked to this podcast episode, Elke. It was really a pleasure to have you on the show.

Elke: 27:14

It was great being here. Thank you so much for having me. It was wonderful being here with you today.

Joeri: 27:19

Guys, what an amazing episode. I really think this episode is useful for a lot of people around you, whether they're already in crypto or not, so be sure to share this episode with them. If you're not yet following the show, this is a really good moment to do this. If you haven't given me a review yet, this would really help me reach an even bigger audience and, of course, I would like to see you back next time. Take care.