Chinese bitcoin mining heavyweight Bitmain is foraying into Europe with a new subsidiary established in Switzerland. Currently under construction, ‘Bitmain Switzerland’ will see its base in Zug, commonly known as the world’s ‘crypto valley’, a report from Swiss newspaper Handelszeitung reveals.
Among the subsidiary’s authorized is Bitmain chief executive and co-founder Jihan Wu, according to information from Zug’s commercial register.
A friendlier jurisdiction and a regulatory embrace are seeing an ever-expanding number of startups and companies from the blockchain and cryptocurrency space establish their headquarters in the region. Home to the government-backed ‘Crypto Valley’ association, the city of Zug also allows citizens to pay for municipal services with bitcoin.
Bitmain’s entry into Switzerland comes amid ongoing curbs on bitcoin mining operations in China. Led by the People’s Bank of China, the country’s central bank, authorities are looking to scale down the energy-intensive process of bitcoin mining domestically by negating favorable policies such as tax cuts and cheap hydroelectric power tariffs offered to bitcoin miners in various Chinese provinces. While the move isn’t a sweeping crackdown, Chinese authorities are surely phasing out the local mining ecosystem, forcing miners like Bitmain to look for friendlier pastures.
After setting up subsidiaries in the United States, Singapore and Israel, Bitmain chose Switzerland’s Zug as its next global hub because Switzerland is “one of the most progressive countries…with good legal stability”, a spokesman for the company told the publication.
Notably, Beijing-based Bitmain added:
“Bitmain Switzerland will play a key role in our global expansion.”
Further, Bitmain said it will set out to hire employees in Zug and will “actively communicate” and co-operate with Switzerland’s Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) and other regulatory organizations and government authorities in the region.
