Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase will reincorporate to Texas from Delaware, a move highlighting the respective states’ legal and regulatory environments.
In a Wednesday X post, Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal said the crypto exchange would move its incorporation to Texas. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Grewal wrote that the climate in Delaware’s courts had become “rife with unpredictable outcomes,” while Texas offered “efficiency and predictability.”
“This decision was not made lightly, but we’ll always do what’s best for our customers, our employees, and our shareholders,” said Grewal.
Coinbase announced in 2021, as COVID-19 restrictions lessened in the United States, that it would close its physical headquarters in San Francisco as part of the company’s “remote-first” policy.
Although the crypto exchange has since opened another location in the city and maintains offices in New York, it was incorporated in the state of Delaware.
Related: Coinbase to hire 130+ staff as it expands into Charlotte’s fintech hub
Grewal’s announcement followed Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong saying that the company would “hire about 1,000 people” in the US as a result of the country’s regulatory environment for digital assets.
Armstrong has been a regular visitor to Washington, D.C., since the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, lobbying for a market structure bill and attending a White House crypto summit.
Texas as a US crypto and blockchain hub
“We are thrilled that [Coinbase is] redomiciling and reincorporating in Texas.“ Lee Bratcher, president of the Texas Blockchain Council, told Cointelegraph. “Texas has traditionally been the epicenter for company relocation in the US the last few decades because of our business-friendly climate. We now have a digital assets-friendly regulatory environment as well.”
Several cryptocurrency and blockchain companies have offices or operations in the Lone Star State, notably miners like Riot Platforms, MARA Holdings and Bitdeer. The city of Austin, the state’s capital, is also home to local offices of Big Tech companies like Meta and Google.
A Coinbase spokesperson told Cointelegraph that the company did not have “any plans to open a physical office in Texas at this time.”
“Coinbase’s relocation reinforces Texas as a hub for innovation and underscores our commitment to remaining the nation’s premier destination for business,” Texas Senator Charles Schwertner, one of the original sponsors of a state bill to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve, told Cointelegraph.
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