Bitmain co-founder’s crypto startup Matrixport expands into Europe with a new office

Matrixport, a cryptocurrency trading, custody and lending startup founded by Bitmain co-founder Jihan Wu, has expanded into Europe with a new office in Zurich, Switzerland.

Singapore-based Matrixport is registered under the name of Chaintech in Switzerland, local news outlet SWI swissinfo.ch reported Tuesday. Matrixport also has offices in China and Hong Kong, and through the Zurich office, it wants to expand its services from Asia to Europe.

The firm plans to hire up to 10 staff within the next two years for the new office, Matrixport’s chief operations officer in Switzerland, Hui Wang, told the news outlet, adding: “We will start on a modest scale initially as we establish our name in Europe and establish a pool of clients.”

Matrixport was launched in July of this year, bringing on several former Bitmain employees, including CEO Ge Yuesheng, a major shareholder of Bitmain. Ge said at the time "We are closely tied to Bitmain by our origin. But because we operate in different businesses, we are partners rather than competitors.”

With the new office, Matrixport has joined a growing number of cryptocurrency players in Switzerland, including Sygnum, SEBA, and the Libra Association, among others.