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Bitcoin Suisse is moving up to half its Swiss workforce abroad. That’s roughly 60 out of 120 positions — mostly back-office and administrative staff — heading to cheaper cities as the Zug-based crypto firm pushes hard into global wealth management.
CEO Andrej Majcen was clear about one thing: this isn’t a crypto market play. The decision didn’t come from a bear market panic or a sudden drop in trading volumes. It’s a deliberate cost-cutting and expansion move, one that’s been building for a while. The company wants lower operational overhead in specific functions, and it wants a bigger international footprint at the same time. Those two goals, Majcen said, are driving the relocation — not conditions in the broader crypto space.
The target destinations are Bratislava and Vietnam. No specific timeline has been disclosed for either hub.
What’s Actually Moving — and Why Bratislava and Vietnam
The roles heading abroad are primarily in back-office and administrative functions. Not client-facing. Not trading desks. The kind of work that can, in theory, run from anywhere with the right infrastructure and talent pool — and at a fraction of Swiss salaries.
Bratislava makes sense on paper. Slovakia sits inside the EU, offers a solid financial services talent base, and costs a lot less than Zurich or even Zug. Vietnam is a different kind of bet — a fast-growing tech and operations hub that a growing number of financial firms across Asia and Europe have quietly been building out. Wages are lower, the workforce is young, and the government has been actively courting foreign investment in services sectors. Bitcoin Suisse isn’t alone in eyeing it, but the company didn’t get into specifics about what the Vietnam setup will look like or when it goes live.
What stays in Switzerland? The source didn’t specify exactly, but the implication is that higher-value functions — strategy, client relationships, product development — remain in Zug.
Licenses in Liechtenstein, Bermuda, and Now Abu Dhabi
The job moves aren’t happening in isolation. Bitcoin Suisse has been on a licensing run. The company secured regulatory approvals in Liechtenstein and Bermuda, two jurisdictions that have become go-to spots for crypto firms wanting credible, regulated frameworks outside the main financial centers.
And then there’s Abu Dhabi. Bitcoin Suisse’s Middle East subsidiary got full regulatory approval there in July. That’s a big deal for the firm’s ambitions in the region. Abu Dhabi has positioned itself as one of the more welcoming jurisdictions for crypto and digital asset businesses, and a full approval — not a provisional license, not a sandbox status — gives Bitcoin Suisse room to operate with real regulatory clarity. It opens the door to institutional and high-net-worth clients in the Gulf who want regulated exposure to crypto financial services.
The company has been targeting exactly that kind of client: institutional investors, family offices, asset managers, and wealthy individuals. That’s a sharp pivot from the retail-adjacent crypto services that defined a lot of the industry’s early years. Bitcoin Suisse, founded in Zug back in 2013, has been around long enough to watch the market mature — and it’s betting the next phase belongs to the wealth management crowd.
A Firm Repositioning Itself at the High End
Twelve years in, Bitcoin Suisse still runs the full stack of crypto financial services: trading, custody, staking, lending. But the strategic language coming out of the firm now is all about becoming a global wealth and asset management platform. That’s a different pitch than “we help you buy Bitcoin.”
It’s also a harder market to crack. The wealth management space is relationship-driven, heavily regulated, and dominated by firms with decades of trust built up. Bitcoin Suisse is probably betting that its crypto-native infrastructure — the custody capabilities, the staking products, the regulatory track record it’s building license by license — gives it an edge that traditional private banks can’t easily replicate.
Whether that bet pays off is unclear yet. The Abu Dhabi approval is real and meaningful. The Liechtenstein and Bermuda licenses are real. But the Bratislava and Vietnam hubs are still works in progress with no firm dates attached, and the wealth management pivot is still early.
What’s concrete right now: 60 Swiss jobs are moving. The company is cutting costs at the operational level while spending on regulatory access at the top. And Majcen wants it understood that none of this is a reaction to market turbulence — it’s a plan.
For the 60 employees whose roles are relocating, that distinction probably matters less than the practical reality. Bitcoin Suisse didn’t say whether affected staff would be offered positions in the new hubs or simply let go. No details on severance, transition timelines, or internal redeployment were provided.
The Abu Dhabi subsidiary got its full approval in July.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many jobs is Bitcoin Suisse moving abroad?
Bitcoin Suisse is relocating up to 60 of its 120 Swiss-based positions, primarily back-office and administrative roles, to new hubs in Bratislava and Vietnam.
What licenses has Bitcoin Suisse secured outside Switzerland?
The company holds licenses in Liechtenstein and Bermuda, and its Middle East subsidiary received full regulatory approval in Abu Dhabi in July.
Why It Matters
This strategic shift by Bitcoin Suisse underscores a growing trend in the crypto industry where firms seek to optimize operational costs while expanding their global footprint. By relocating back-office functions to more cost-effective regions, the company aims to enhance its competitiveness in the evolving wealth management space, signaling a broader industry focus on efficiency and scalability amid fluctuating market conditions. Such moves may also reflect a maturation of the crypto sector, as firms increasingly prioritize long-term sustainability over short-term market dynamics.
