Coinbase is expanding into several European countries in the midst of the “crypto winter”. Although the company has laid off many employees and withdrawn job offers, Coinbase vice president Nana Murugesan announced that the platform wants to register in Italy, Spain, France and the Netherlands.
In Switzerland, the US cryptocurrency exchange has already hired the first employees and has licenses for trading cryptocurrencies in the UK, Ireland and Germany.
In an interview on June 29, Murugesan said that the company now wanted to expand to Europe. In addition, given the slump in the cryptocurrency market, the company is also open to acquisitions in the region.
He believes that this is the ideal time to expand to other countries, as many companies specializing in cryptocurrencies are struggling with a lack of liquidity and the threat of bankruptcy. The slump in the crypto market has reduced the market capitalization by almost $ 2 trillion. Currently, the market capitalization is about $ 900 billion. The liquidity crisis has almost forced Three Arrows Capital and Celsius Network to close. He explained that:
“When we entered the market in the UK and Europe, that was during the last big bear market between 2015 and 2016.”
Cointelegraph has reached out to Coinbase for comment, but has not received a response by the time of writing.
Coinbase is the most well-known cryptocurrency exchange in the United States and has partnered with other providers, such as Binance, FTX and Crypto.com , tough competition. When the US subsidiary of Binance announced that it would no longer charge fees for Bitcoin trading, the shares of Coinbase fell.
Coinbase wants to keep up with its competitors, as they are becoming more and more popular in other regions of the world. Binance and FTX have received licenses in the Middle East. In addition, Binance has secured licenses in France and Italy and is looking for registrations in other European countries.
In this context: Binance applies for two permits in the Philippines
There are layoffs in the technology industry worldwide and Coinbase cannot ignore this trend either. Due to the crisis, the company had to lay off almost 18 percent of its workforce worldwide in June.
