Coinbase to expand Singapore team to 200 by end-2026 after opening new office

Coinbase has opened a new office at One Raffles Quay in Singapore and plans to grow its local workforce from about 150 to roughly 200 by the end of 2026, underscoring the city-state’s role in the exchange’s Asia-Pacific strategy even after broader global layoffs. Singapore country director Hassan Ahmed said hiring will center on engineering, customer service, relationship management and institutional sales, reflecting a push to deepen both retail support and institutional infrastructure in a market Coinbase views as one of its fastest-growing internationally. The company cut about 14% of its global workforce, or roughly 700 jobs, on May 5 as Chief Executive Brian Armstrong sought to make Coinbase “lean, fast, and AI-native” amid volatile crypto markets and rapid advances in artificial intelligence; Coinbase’s total headcount stood at about 4,950 on July 23. Coinbase received a full Major Payment Institution license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore in October 2023, and has since used Singapore as a base for products including support for the Singapore dollar-backed stablecoin XSGD and the launch of Coinbase Business with Standard Chartered as banking partner. Ahmed said demand from accredited investors and institutions for digital assets, stablecoins and tokenization is rising as regulatory frameworks advance in the United States, Europe, Hong Kong and Singapore. He also pointed to potential uses for AI agents with stablecoin wallets and auditable blockchain records. The hiring push fits into a broader APAC expansion that includes regulatory progress in Australia and renewed fiat rails in India, while Coinbase’s second-quarter earnings due on July 30 are likely to sharpen investor focus on whether those geographic bets can translate into more durable revenue.