As part of an aggressive push for expanding outside the United States, Coinbase is looking for licenses in different countries in Europe. While the cryptocurrency exchange is already active in some regions, such as Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Germany, it is now planning on expanding its presence to some other regions, such as Italy, Spain, France, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. This announcement came from Nana Murugesan, the vice president of Coinbase international. He further added that the exchange had just hired its first Swiss employee.

Boosting growth

The US crypto exchange is looking to expand in international markets in order to boost growth amidst the turmoil that has taken the crypto markets by a storm. Coinbase had announced earlier this month that it was laying off about 18% of its staff due to the crypto winter. There are also other companies that have taken similar steps, such as Gemini and BlockFi, as their profits are struggling because of the fall in crypto prices.

Nonetheless, Murugesan stated that Coinbase was now seeking a regional manager for overseeing the exchange’s operations in Europe. He stated that ‘mission-critical roles’ were a priority for the company in different fields, such as compliance and security. Of course, this would come after they have recorded some growth.

Murugesan had joined Coinbase this year in January. He stated that the exchange had made its entry in Europe and UK during 2015 and 2016, when the crypto space had been experiencing its last bear market. He went on to say that fast forward a few years later and both the UK and Europe have become a big part of the exchange’s business.

He said that they had still decided to make the move and it had paid off. It had been a tough time and they were hoping to have the same experience again.

Preparing for approval

Coinbase’s vice president of legal, Katherine Minarik disclosed that the exchange is working on getting approval under the anti-money laundering (AML) that are applicable in several countries, which include France. The company is also making preparations to ensure compliance with Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA), which is a historic piece of legislation that has been developed in the European Union for harmonizing crypto regulation throughout the bloc.

On Thursday, the officials from the parliament and the European Council were meeting in order to come to an agreement on the crypto regulation rules. The MiCA is expected to be implemented in the European Union from 2024 onwards. Minarik stated that once it gets approval, then Coinbase will be able to offer its services in all of the 27 countries that make up the bloc.

Beating competition

Even though Coinbase has the honor of being the biggest crypto exchange in the United States, it has tough competition to deal with from players like FTX, Crypto.com and Binance. It is trying to keep pace with its competitors that are gaining a lot of ground in regions outside of the US and now the exchange is also trying to keep pace with it.