Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is eyeing European expansion with plans to open an office in Dublin, Ireland as the potential for Brexit fallout looms. Nonetheless, the San Francisco start-up will retain its present office in London as its primary European headquarters.
The financial industry in the United Kingdom is already feeling the impact of a UK exit from the European Union, which is now spilling over into the cryptocurrency space. The UK government said a talent flight from financial services firms to the EU is expected to be in the thousands early next year when the UK leaves the trading bloc.
In order to maintain its position as one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges with an increased European presence, the move made sense, according to Zeeshan Feroz, UK chief executive of Coinbase.
“Our Dublin office signals Coinbase’s growing presence in Europe and will complement the operations of our London hub, which will remain our European headquarters,” said Feroz. “When considering the location of our second European office, Dublin was the clear choice — it’s an English-speaking EU member state that boasts a diverse talent pool, entrepreneurial spirit, and long-standing support for technological innovation.”
However, other media reports say that the flight from finance jobs to the EU may be overblown. Surveys have revealed that London’s position as the world’s largest center for international finance will largely be in tact once Brexit takes place.
According to the cryptocurrency exchange company, the move to Dublin came after an extensive search for possible office locations.
“We explored a variety of cities across the EU, and Dublin was the clear choice,” Coinbase said in a statement. “Our new office will help us tap into the city’s diverse talent pool and long-standing support for technological innovation, including a burgeoning cryptocurrency economy.”
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Fidelity Offers Crypto Platform to Institutional Investors
In the United States, Fidelity is getting into the digital currencies game as the 72-year-old investment firm with more than $7.2 trillion in client assets announced today that it’s launching Fidelity Digital Asset Services, LLC, which will offer enterprise-quality custody and trade execution services for cryptocurrencies to sophisticated institutional investors such as hedge funds, family offices and market intermediaries.
While the new company won’t cater to retail investors, it’s still a big step forward for digital currencies as Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are struggling to gain wider public adoption. In a bid for legitimacy via government regulation, the Securities and Exchange Commission has already rejected nine applications for Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, but is open for comments from investors on pending applications until later this month.
“Our goal is to make digitally-native assets, such as bitcoin, more accessible to investors,” said Abigail P. Johnson, Chairman and CEO of Fidelity Investments in a press release. “We expect to continue investing and experimenting, over the long-term, with ways to make this emerging asset class easier for our clients to understand and use.”
While digital currencies and security has long been a topic of issue, Fidelity addressed this by leveraging the latest in blockchain technology.
“We started exploring blockchain and digital assets several years ago, and those efforts have been successful in helping us understand and advance our thinking around cryptocurrencies,” said Tom Jessop, head of Fidelity Digital Assets. “The creation of Fidelity Digital Assets is the first step in a long-term vision to create a full-service enterprise-grade platform for digital assets.”
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