Elain Brown Tech 06.30.2022 06:Jun AM EDT

Coinbase Seeks Licensing in Europe as it Expands Beyond the U.S.

Coinbase is planning to expand its crypto presence in Europe.

Coinbase is expanding to reach a much broader user-base and this includes widening their availability in Europe.

The company is keeping up with well-known competitors like Binance and FTX, which have gained a good number of users in the international market outside the U.S.

Despite the massive layoffs in the company, Coinbase executives confirmed their plans to expand beyond America.

The company's vice president of international, Nana Murugesan, has the intention of recruiting a regional manager in order to supervise its operations in Europe.

According to Katherine Minarik, Coinbase's vice president of legal, the company is currently engaged in discussions to obtain regulatory approval in a number of countries, including France.

Coinbase in Europe

Coinbase is currently in the process of legal work in Europe. The crypto company is seeking licenses in multiple countries in Europe.

CNBC reported that, according to Murugesan, the last time the company entered European territories and the U.K. was during the previous big bear market in 2015-2016.

However, despite the market conditions at that time, fast forward to 2017-2018, and the United Kingdom and Europe both constitute a significant portion of their overall business.

Although they admittedly stated it was a tough time in the market and for the company, the investment has yielded a significant return.

According to Bloomberg, Murugesan stated, "In all these markets our intention is to have retail and institutional products."

He added, "It's almost like an existential priority for us to make sure that we are able to realize our mission by accelerating our expansion efforts."

The Coinbase vice president of international also stated that the cryptocurrency exchange already maintains an operational presence in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Germany.

However, the company is planning to launch business operations in Spain, Italy, France, the Netherlands, and Switzerland.

He added that Coinbase just hired its first employee in Switzerland not too long ago.

Furthermore, Minarik said the company is currently in discussions to obtain approval in accordance with anti-money laundering regulations in a number of countries, including France.

Hiring in Crypto-Winter

Still, Murugesan says Coinbase is planning to hire a regional manager to oversee its European operations. The firm is mainly prioritizing "mission-critical roles" in fields like security and compliance after a period of rapid growth, he added.

iTechPost previously reported that the company implemented a massive layoff of 18% of its workforce, which is approximately 1,100 employees, just recently.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong stated laying off this much employees will be done to keep the company healthy during this economic downturn. The CEO also admitted his mistakes, stating that they grew too quickly and over-hired in return.

The market currently is no doubt in a challenging times, cryptocurrency companies such as Gemini, and BlockFi, even including Coinbase, has decided to cut off a certain percent of their employees to assure the health of their company.

However, despite the crypto-winter in the market, Coinbase has decided to expand in Europe to serve more users.

Crypto Regulation

Coinbase is getting ready for a landmark piece of legislation from the EU called Markets in Crypto-Assets, also known as MiCA. MiCA aims to harmonize the regulation of crypto across the EU.

CNBC reports that on Thursday, representatives from the European Council and the European Parliament are scheduled to get together in an effort to reach a consensus regarding the rules.

It is anticipated that MiCA will go into effect in 2024, provided that everything goes according to plan.

According to Minarik, once it is approved, it will make it possible for Coinbase to offer its services in all 27 member states of the EU.