Blockchain.com to increase headcount by 25% next year: Bloomberg

A month after securing $110 million in financing, cryptocurrency exchange Blockchain.com said it plans to grow its workforce by 25% in the new year, according to Bloomberg.

With plans to expand into Turkey and Nigeria, and the recent hire of Curtis Ting, a former Kraken executive, Blockchain.com will also be seeking additional licenses, the company's CEO Peter Smith told Bloomberg in an interview.

Blockchain.com currently employs about 300 people, according to the report. The announced expansion plans comes on the heels of last month's news the company raised $110 million in a funding round led by Kingsway Capital, an investment management firm based in the UK. Other participants included Baillie Gifford, Lakestar, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Coinbase Ventures and others.

"We’ve seen a lot of shakeout in the market, whether it's companies retreating from certain local markets or being distracted from regulatory [pressure], or companies going under," Smith said in the interview. "For us over the last 1.5 years, it's been an incredible opportunity to take market share. There’s probably 60-70% less competition right now than there was at the end of 2021 — brokerages, exchanges, any line you look at."

Shifting landscape

The company's decision to try and tackle new markets comes as Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, has seen its dominance slip and U.S.-based Coinbase is making inroads to expand internationally.

After the 2021 collapse of crypto lender Three Arrows Capital, Blockchain.com was left with a $270 million hole. The following year, Blockchain.com laid off 25% of its staff and reduced CEO compensation.