Matrixport, a Singapore-based crypto startup launched by onetime Bitmain CEO Jihan Wu, will expand its services from Asia to Europe through its new Zurich office.

Registered under the name of Chaintech in Switzerland, Matrixport will begin offering its trading, lending and custody services in the state, Swiss-centred publication swissinfo.ch reports on Nov. 26.

The European expansion news comes less than 5 months after Wu launched Matrixport in July to offer over-the-counter trading, lending and custody services for crypto. The firm hired dozens of quondam Bitmain staff that were laid off from Bitmain as a consequence of the behave marketplace of 2018.

Hui Wang, the CEO of Matrixport in Switzerland, told swissinfo.ch that the visitor plans to hire up to 10 employees within the adjacent two years. She besides emphasized that Matrixport'due south new role in Zurich volition not human activity to only refer clients to Asia, just will provide total service to European clients.

Bitmain co-operative to close doors

Meanwhile, Bitmain's Swiss subsidiary in Zug — Bitmain Switzerland — is poised to shut down, according to swissinfo.ch. The branch was launched in belatedly 2018 to boost the company's global achieve alongside other operations in Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Tel Aviv, Qingdao, Chengdu, Shanghai and Shenzhen, every bit Reuters previously reported.

Founded in 2013, Bitmain is ane of the largest Bitcoin (BTC) mining pools globally. After the visitor failed its $3 billion initial public offering (IPO) on the Hong Kong stock exchange, information technology reportedly filed for an IPO with the United states Securities and Exchange Commission in belatedly October 2019.