Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ:COIN) has made a move into the offshore jurisdictions after receiving a regulatory licence to operate in Bermuda.
The Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency exchange’s Class F License under the Digital Asset Business Act from the Bermuda Monetary Authority will allow the group to provide investment products outlawed in the US, such as crypto futures, perpetual swaps and other derivatives.
“Bermuda was one of the first financial centres to pass comprehensive digital assets regulation in 2018, and its regulatory environment is long known for a high level of rigour, transparency, compliance, and cooperation,” wrote Nana Murugesan, vice president of international and business development.
Coinbase’s expansion into a key offshore jurisdiction is likely to turn heads, given chief executive Brian Armstrong’s recent comments expressing irritation over the US’s regulation-by-enforcement approach to the cryptocurrency sector.
Asked by former UK chancellor George Osborne at a fintech conference on Tuesday if Coinbase was mulling an operational move to Britain, Armstrong said that “anything is on the table… including, you know, relocating or whatever is necessary”.
“The US has the potential to be an important market in crypto, but right now, we are not seeing that regulatory clarity needed,” said Armstrong.
America’s prohibitive regulatory environment has seen most major cryptocurrency exchanges, including Binance and the now-collapse FTX, operate in offshore jurisdictions.
Coinbase’s latest move forms part of the group’s international expansion drive under it Go Broad and Go Deep strategy.
