New York, NY (PinionNewswire) — Contour Network has appointed Rahul Bhargava (Linkedin) as Interim Chief Operating Officer, reinforcing management leadership as the platform enters its next phase of growth following its acquisition by XDC Ventures in Q4 2025.

Bhargava’s appointment signals a strategic acceleration phase for Contour as it expands beyond digitising Letters of Credit to building an integrated trade-to-settlement ecosystem. Under Bhargava’s leadership, Contour will vertically scale its proven LC digitisation platform while horizontally integrating XDC Network’s institutional-grade blockchain infrastructure to enable seamless reconciliation and downstream payment optionality.

He brings extensive experience in modernising cross-border financial systems, designing interoperability frameworks, and advancing global standards such as ISO 20022. His career spans leadership across banks, regulators, multilateral institutions and payment infrastructures, uniquely positioning him to guide Contour through its next growth phase while ensuring regulatory alignment and production-grade implementation.

Ritesh Kakkad, Co-Founder of XDC Network and XDC Ventures, said: “Rahul’s expertise in bridging legacy financial infrastructure with emerging digital rails directly supports our vision of building a powerful institutional gateway for tokenised trade finance. With Contour, we are focused on delivering scalable, compliant solutions that connect trade digitisation with efficient settlement optionality.”

On the strategic significance of the appointment, Rahul Bhargava said “I am excited to join Contour at this pivotal moment in Trade Finance evolution. By vertically scaling up Contour’s proven Trade digitisation services portfolio and horizontally extending to combine XDC Network capabilities we aim to deliver a  future-ready, scalable platform helping streamline trade to settlement. A Stablecoin Lab will also be available to trial USDC based settlement models.”

As Interim COO, Bhargava will lead operational scale-up, deepen global member engagement, expand network participation, and oversee integration of XDC’s trade, digital asset and settlement capabilities. This includes advancing Contour’s Stablecoin Lab as a structured innovation environment to trial regulated, production-ready digital settlement models alongside fiat rails.

NOTES TO EDITORS

Progressing Contour Networks

Operational since 2017, Contour provides banks and corporates with a production-grade, blockchain-enabled platform for digitising letters of credit (LCs). Member institutions using the network have reduced LC processing times from days to hours across live commodity and manufacturing trades. This core capability remains central, while the platform evolves to support greater flexibility, scale, and settlement optionality in response to changing market demands.

Originally launched by a consortium of global banks including HSBC, Standard Chartered, Citi, BNP Paribas, DBS, ING and others, Contour was established at a time when trade-finance digitisation was still emerging.

Today, the operating environment has matured significantly, shaped by regulatory progress, legal frameworks such as MLETR, industry initiatives including TradeTrust and ICC DSI, and growing institutional adoption of tokenised assets and regulated stablecoins.

With the backing of XDC Ventures and access to XDC Network’s institutional-grade infrastructure, Contour is positioned to bridge trade execution and payment settlement in a way that is compliant, scalable, and practical for banks and corporates.

Biography: Rahul Bhargava

Rahul Bhargava is a global financial market infrastructure leader with over two decades of experience advancing digital transformation, cross-border payments innovation, and financial systems modernisation. He is widely recognised for bridging traditional banking networks with emerging digital rails, while ensuring regulatory alignment and production-grade scalability.

He has led and advised major initiatives with institutions such as SWIFT, the World Bank Group and the World Economic Forum, contributing to the evolution of instant cross-border payments, digital money frameworks and interoperability standards. His work brings together banks, regulators, multilateral institutions and fintech leaders to address systemic challenges in global payments infrastructure.

A frequent speaker at global industry forums including Sibos, Money20/20 and the Singapore FinTech Festival, Rahul is regarded as a thought leader in the future of finance and responsible innovation.

As Interim Chief Operating Officer of Contour Network, he is leading the platform’s next growth phase, strengthening institutional engagement and advancing the integration of digitised trade finance with flexible, compliant settlement options across both traditional and regulated digital channels.

Interviews

Interviews with Rahul are invited. Please contact Ashwini Shinde, Sr. PR Executive, Madchatter Brand Solutions, ashwini@madchatter.in, tel: +91 989210861.

About Contour Network

Contour Network is a Singapore-headquartered global digital trade-finance platform that digitizes letters of credit (LCs) and cross-border trade documentation. Contour delivers production-grade solutions designed to enhance speed, transparency, and trust across international trade workflows.

About XDC Network

XDC Network is an open-source, EVM-compatible Layer-1 blockchain built for payments, trade finance and real-world assets, offering high throughput, low fees and enterprise-grade security, while being ISO 20022compliant to support interoperability with global financial messaging and payment systems. XDC Network underpins a growing ecosystem of regulated digital money, trade, and settlement solutions across the globe, supporting open account trade digitisation, MLETR and Tradetrust verification of trade documents, payments settlement optionality in USDC via stablecoin wallets or as an intermediate settlement between bank accounts.

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Filed under: Altcoins - @ February 19, 2026 12:12 am