The U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase appears to be setting up an office in New York City.
San Francisco-based Coinbase is subleasing 30,000 sqft from Steven A. Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management. The office space is located in the Hudson Yards neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan.
Coinbase’s subleasing is also notable for another reason. It’s one of the first tech companies to set up in an area known for corporate, media, and law tenants. “It’s a new brand of users not only for Related’s Hudson Yards but also for the entire far West Side area,” said one market-watcher.
Decentralizing workspaces
The move comes as part of Coinbase’s new recently announced strategy. The exchange will close its San Francisco HQ and move to a telecommute model. Regarding the move, Coinbase said that it’s “important to show our decentralized workforce that no one location is more important than the other.” Accordingly, this New York office will be among the first in a series of smaller offices.
The change to the new remote model is not unexpected, as many other businesses are shifting to the telecommuting model. The operations costs are significantly reduced with this model, and employees also benefit from a better work-life balance.
Coinbase benefits
In addition to providing a better work-life balance for its employees, Coinbase is also making other moves regarding employee benefits. Coinbase announced it is teaming up with 401k provider ForUsAll to bring cryptocurrency options to retirement accounts.
According to the announcement, employees of AllForUs clients will be able to invest up to 5% of their 401k payments in a number of different cryptocurrencies. Additionally, clients who possess a ForUsAll retirement plan will be given the ability to directly invest using cryptos. Meanwhile, Coinbase Institutional trading platform handles the actual trading and custody of funds and allows access to around 50 cryptocurrencies.
Coinbase has been in the media spotlight over the past few months, in light of its recent direct listing. However, the mixed results it has seen in that regard have given other crypto firms pause as to how they should proceed. For instance, Jesse Powell, CEO of rival exchange Kraken, said he would now prefer a more traditional IPO or a direct listing for his company’s public debut.
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