Coinbase Brexit plan: Crypto exchange to open Dublin office

Glassdoor/Coinbase

• Coinbase, one of the most prominent cryptocurrency
  exchanges, has announced plans to open an office in Ireland’s
  capital, Dublin.
• The announcement is part of the company’s contingency
  planning for a no-deal Brexit.
• “As we plan for all eventualities, it’s important that
  we continue servicing our customers across Europe, and
  Ireland would be our preferred choice there if it comes to it,”
  UK CEO Zeeshan Feroz said.

Coinbase, one of the most prominent cryptocurrency exchanges, has
announced plans to open an office in Ireland’s capital, Dublin,
as it makes contingency plans for Brexit.

The exchange says it is opening the Dublin office partly to serve
rising demand from the European Union, but also as a means of
ensuring it can keep all of its operations going in the event of
no deal being reached between Britain and the EU during Brexit
talks.

“To begin with we’re housing a significant support team
there, and we’re looking to capitalise on the talent
pool that’s available to us in Ireland and hire other folks,”

Zeeshan Feroz, Coinbase’s UK CEO told The Guardian.

“It is also a plan B for Brexit,” Feroz added.

“As we plan for all eventualities, it’s important that we
continue servicing our customers across Europe,
and Ireland would be our preferred choice there if it comes to
it.”

Up until now, relocation of offices and staff to EU27
countries has largely been limited to major financial
institutions, with
the likes of Barclays and Bank of America Merill Lynch both
announcing plans to move staff to Dublin, and many other
firms shifting staff to cities including Paris and
Frankfurt.

Crypto companies, however, have been less forward in their
contingency planning. Feroz said that Coinbase’s move reflects
the fact that it is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority
as a financial institution.

“Clearly as a regulated financial institution, if we don’t
have access to passporting, we have to look for alternatives,” he
said.

Passporting rules allow EU finance companies to sell
their services across the 28-member bloc with a local
license, rather than getting a license to operate in each member
country where it does business. The rights are tied strongly to
membership of the European single market, and as a result will be
lost once the UK drops out of the EU.

The threat of losing passporting rights is the biggest
concern for the finance industry, and has been the main driver in
firms moving EU jobs to cities outside the UK.

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