Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz/Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Crypto services company Galaxy Digital is moving more business overseas amid an industry crackdown in the U.S., CEO Mike Novogratz said Wednesday at the Piper Sandler Global Exchange and Fintech Conference.
Why it matters: The company, whose services include custody and asset management, joins a rising tide of crypto firms turning their attention abroad.
Driving the news: "Certainly in the short run, we are going to look to move people out of the U.S.," he said, noting the company has been growing more of its sales, trading, and lending businesses abroad.
- "In the medium to long run, the U.S. has to be part of the system. We're too big a part of the global economy," he said. "For crypto to really fulfill its destiny, we have to get the U.S. engaged."
Context: Ripple, having been embroiled in a lawsuit with the SEC since 2020, has already been building more of its business outside the U.S., CLO Stuart Alderoty said at the conference.
- Coinbase opened a Bermuda-based operation this year.
- Bittrex, meanwhile, shut down operations in the U.S.
Of note: The company this year acquired Israeli self-custody business GK8 out of Celsius' bankruptcy auction.
- Galaxy had 415 employees worldwide as of the first quarter.
Bottom line: The crypto industry needs U.S. exposure to hit true global reach, and its participants argue the U.S. needs it, too. Executives in the space say the U.S. risks ceding tech strength to its geopolitical competitors.
- "You're going to lose jobs, you're going to lose taxpayers, and you're going to lose, maybe, the locus of innovation," Novogratz says.
