coincodex.com
Key highlights:
- Coinbase is continuing its expansion in Europe despite recently laying off 18% of its workforce
- Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong was recently in the United Kingdom to meet with policymakers
- The company is looking to increase its presence in France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands
Coinbase is expanding its Europe business
The Coinbase cryptocurrency exchange is making a concentrated push to expand its business in Europe, despite recently laying off 18% of its workforce amidst bearish cryptocurrency market conditions.
Coinbase executives Nana Murugesan and Tom Duff Gordon wrote in a blog post that Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong was recently in London and Dublin for meetings with policymakers, partners and journalists. The company has also established a regional Centre of Excellence in Ireland. In April, the HM Treasury announced a plan to make the United Kingdom a global hub for crypto assets and recognize stablecoins as a form of payment.
As for the rest of the European market, Coinbase says it’s planning to expand the suite of products it’s offering in France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands. Currently, the company already has offices in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Germany.
Per the blog post, the European Union’s agreement on the MiCA (Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation) regulations provide a clear regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies across the entire EU, which will make it possible for Coinbase to scale its investments in the region.
Coinbase says that its previous bear market bets on international expansion had very positive results:
“During market downturns, the temptation can be to shy away from international expansion. We first entered the UK and EU during the bear market in 2015, a move that paid off significantly during the bull run a few years from then.”
While Coinbase is looking to provide its core services to more customers in Europe, Coinbase’s venture capital arm Coinbase Ventures is also active in backing Europe-based crypto startups, such as Euler and Qredo.
Coinbase has unfortunately been a dismal performer on the stock market this year—the company’s shares are down a whopping 80.4% year-to-date. The stock has fared significantly worse than both Bitcoin (-58%) and Ethereum (-70%) in the same time period.