Coinbase has expanded its operations in Singapore with a new office at One Raffles Quay and plans to increase its local workforce by about one-third, from roughly 150 employees to around 200, by the end of 2026.

According to The Business Times, the Nasdaq-listed crypto exchange officially opened the new Singapore office on July 22. The company expects to add staff over the next 18 months, with hiring focused mainly on engineering, customer service, relationship management, and institutional sales, Singapore country director Hassan Ahmed said in an interview with the publication.

The expansion comes as Coinbase continues to invest in Singapore, one of Asia’s most established digital asset markets, even after announcing global workforce reductions earlier this year and as its shares face renewed pressure in the United States. The push into Singapore also comes amid ongoing regulatory challenges at home, where the Securities and Exchange Commission sued Coinbase in June 2023 alleging the company operated as an unregistered securities exchange, broker, and clearing agency—a case that has underscored the strategic importance of licensed international markets for the exchange.

Speaking to The Business Times, Ahmed described Singapore as “one of the world’s most trusted financial hubs and one of Coinbase’s fastest-growing international markets.”

“This new office reflects our long-term confidence in Singapore as a strategic hub for innovation, talent, and responsible growth across the Asia Pacific, giving us the resources to work more closely with local authorities, invest in talent, and scale partnerships,” Ahmed said.

The local hiring plan contrasts with Coinbase’s broader cost-cutting measures. On May 5, the company said it would reduce its global workforce by about 14% as part of a cost management effort driven by market volatility and the increasing use of artificial intelligence. At the time, Coinbase said it would reorganize teams around AI capabilities while reducing management layers.

Despite those global cuts, Ahmed told The Business Times that Coinbase sees strong long-term opportunities for cryptocurrencies and stablecoins in Singapore and across Asia, supporting its decision to keep hiring in the country.

Singapore remains central to Coinbase’s Asia strategy

Ahmed said Coinbase’s continued investment in Singapore is tied to the country’s regulatory clarity and business environment, which he said helped it become an early digital asset hub.

According to Ahmed, Singapore was “much ahead of other jurisdictions and hubs that were also vying to be digital asset hubs” when digital asset rules were being developed. He also cited Singapore’s business-friendly operating environment, favorable tax structure, and access to capital as factors behind Coinbase’s expansion.

Coinbase’s relationship with Singapore regulators has developed over several years. The company first received a temporary exemption from licensing requirements in March 2020. It later obtained in-principle approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, or MAS, in October 2022.

In October 2023, Coinbase secured a full Major Payment Institution license under Singapore’s Payment Services Act. The license allowed the exchange to operate as a fully licensed digital payment token service provider in the country.

At the time, Coinbase named Singapore as one of six priority international markets in its expansion strategy, alongside the European Union, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Brazil. The company also pointed to crypto adoption in Singapore, saying the country had become one of the world’s leading digital asset markets.

Coinbase continued investing in Singapore after receiving the license. In November 2024, the company launched an Engineering Hub in partnership with the Singapore Economic Development Board to support blockchain infrastructure development and local engineering talent. Coinbase said the initiative would help developers build applications for the on-chain economy while strengthening Singapore’s position as a regional technology center.

The company also expanded local payment infrastructure by supporting the Singapore dollar-backed stablecoin XSGD in partnership with StraitsX and Coinbase Business. The arrangement allows companies to access stablecoin-based payment services.

Institutional demand and tokenization draw attention

Ahmed told The Business Times that accredited and institutional investors have continued to show increasing interest in digital assets and blockchain technology.

He also said tokenization has received significantly more attention as governments and regulators introduce frameworks for digital assets. Ahmed cited the U.S. GENIUS Act, the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation, Hong Kong’s stablecoin ordinance, and Singapore’s tokenized Treasury bills pilot together with its stablecoin regulatory framework. Singapore’s MAS has also advanced tokenization through Project Guardian, an initiative launched in 2022 in collaboration with major banks and asset managers to test institutional DeFi applications across bonds, deposits, and foreign exchange.

According to Ahmed, market participants increasingly expect financial markets to operate continuously rather than only during traditional business hours.

“Consumers and traders now have an expectation of 24/7 trading markets, and they want to apply this technology to tokenize assets to make them 24/7,” he said. “They also want to use stablecoins to do instant settlement.”

His comments come as tokenized real-world assets and regulated stablecoins continue drawing attention from financial institutions across several jurisdictions, with multiple governments introducing dedicated legal frameworks over the past year.

AI becomes another area of investment

Alongside its hiring plans and digital asset initiatives, Coinbase is also examining how artificial intelligence can be integrated with blockchain technology.

Ahmed told The Business Times that one area under review involves equipping AI agents with stablecoin wallets so they can carry out transactions while maintaining transparent on-chain records of their activity. He said blockchain could provide an auditable record of actions taken by AI systems.

Coinbase is also introducing AI across internal operations, particularly in engineering teams. Ahmed said, however, that people would continue overseeing important decisions rather than giving full control to automated systems.

“Digital assets and AI are effectively colliding,” Ahmed said. “We are very excited about the potential of AI.”

Coinbase is moving ahead with its Singapore hiring plans as its shares continue to experience volatility in the United States. On July 22, Coinbase shares fell roughly 4% after Polymarket reduced the odds of the CLARITY Act passing before the end of 2026 amid disagreements over proposed ethics provisions. The CLARITY Act is proposed US legislation that would establish a framework clarifying regulatory authority over digital assets between the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.