Cryptocurrency exchange eToro announces details of Miami expansion

The Bitcoin 2021 conference may be over, but Miami’s crypto cred keeps rising.

eToro, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency trading platforms, officially announced Monday that it will be opening an operations and innovation hub in Miami. In the process, it plans to create 50 additional jobs in South Florida, doubling the company’s U.S. workforce by the end of 2022.

The announcement by the Tel Aviv-based company came on the heels of last week’s Bitcoin 2021 conference in Wynwood, the largest gathering of its kind. Prior to the conference, Blockchain.com announced it would be relocating its headquarters to Miami and adding 300 jobs by the end of 2022.

“The decision to expand our presence into South Florida is a logical step for our business,” said eToro US Managing Director Guy Hirsch, in a statement. “The area is rich with diverse talent from all over the world and a creative spirit that comes from a melting pot of cultures. We have the opportunity to further expand staffing and capabilities in operations, as well as increase our ability to service current and future markets.”

Guy Hirsch, eToro US Managing Director

In March, eToro announced it is planning to go public through a merger with FinTech Acquisition V, a Special Purpose Acquisition Corporation or SPAC, It is also set to launch a stock offering for US clients by the end of 2021. 

eToro, founded in 2007, now serves more than 20 million users worldwide. In January 2021 alone, the company said, it added more than 1.2 million users globally and saw more than 75 million trades executed on the platform, with US customers responsible for a growing proportion of this activity. eToro has added several new crypto assets to its platform, including Chainlink, Uniswap, Dogecoin, AAVE, Compound, Yearn.Finance and Decentraland.

The company expanded to the U.S in 2018, with a location in New Jersey. Miami is the company’s second U.S. hub. eToro is scouting locations in Miami for its offices.

The Miami expansion was under consideration for the past few months but became final when  Hirsch and co-founder and CEO Yoni Assia met with Miami Mayor Francis Suarez. Both Hirsch and Assia also spoke at the Bitcoin 2021 conference. “Miami is experiencing an innovation renaissance, specifically in blockchain, crypto, ,fintech, and venture capital,” said Assia.

Indeed, companies in the Miami metro area drew a near-record $2.27 billion in venture capital investment in 2020, capping a three-year run of $6.5 billion. What’s more, while Miami has long had a crypto scene, it’s been growing exponentially with the influx of founders and investors moving to Miami in the past six months. Bitcoin 2021 – which featured Jack Dorsey, Michael Saylor, and 150 other crypto luminaries  drew tens of thousands of people to the Magic City. Attendence – about 12,000 – was  6 times higher than in 2019 in San Francisco.

“eToro’s commitment to Miami furthers the narrative that this is not a moment but a movement, and we are on our way to becoming the Capital of Capital,” said Mayor Suarez, in a statement.

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Nancy Dahlberg