Bit2Me, a leading Spanish crypto exchange, plans to add 250 employees over the course of the next 12 months, doubling its headcount, company co-founder and CEO Leif Ferreira told CoinDesk.
The company has also signed memorandums of understanding (MOU) for three acquisitions – a 90% stake in a Latin American exchange, along with purchases of a fintech company and a software developer, both based in Spain – Ferreira added. More details will be available later in 2022.
“In a context of many layoffs, now is the time to hold and build,” Ferreira said. “Crypto is not going to stop, no matter how much prices have fallen.”
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Funding for the hiring and acquisitions will come from cash on hand, including part of the €20 million raised through an ICO in 2021, said Ferreira, though he didn’t rule out adding capital via a strategic partner. “It is not something we need or want to close immediately,” he said. “We are open to a strategic partner coming in. It is not an obsession for us.”
In February, Bit2Me received the first license granted by the Bank of Spain as a “provider of services for the exchange of virtual currency for fiat currency and the custody of digital wallets,” the company said at that time.
Headquartered in Spain, Bit 2Me also operates in Portugal, Italy and France in Europe, as well as Brazil and Peru in Latin America. The company has 600,000 users, 70% of which are in Spain. Trading volume in 2021 totaled €1.1 billion.
Additional second half plans, said Ferreira, are launches of a Mastercard debit card, a futures trading platform, a lending service and a feature to allow online shops receive payments via cryptocurrencies.
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