California crypto startup moves to South Dakota as debate over proposed wealth tax heats up
Californian cryptocurrency startup BitGo has moved to South Dakota ahead of its initial public offering and amid heated debate over a proposed ballot measure to tax billionaires.
Headquartered in Palo Alto, the company is currently headquartered in Sioux Falls, S.D., according to a filing filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in December.
Aiming for a $1.96 billion valuation, BitGo offers businesses tools to help them manage and keep their digital assets safe.
It occupies 5,250 square feet of office space in Sioux Falls as part of a lease that is scheduled to expire in 2028, the filing said. As of September, the digital asset infrastructure company said it had office space in San Francisco, Palo Alto, New York, Canada, India, Germany, Singapore, South Korea and Dubai. It had 566 full-time employees.
The rise of remote working has made it possible for businesses to employ employees outside of their headquarters. BitGo’s career page lists open positions for a variety of roles, some of which are remote, including in California and South Dakota. However, in some jobs, applicants are asked whether they can work in the field.
The file does not say why the company moved its headquarters. Business leaders critical of California regulations are relocating their headquarters. Database management company Oracle and social media company X moved their head offices.
SFGate We previously reported BitGo’s move.
An initiative to tax some of California’s wealthiest residents still needs enough signatures to get on the November ballot, but the initiative is already sparking plenty of backlash. Under the Billionaire Tax Act, Californians worth more than $1 billion will pay a one-time 5% tax on their total wealth. Most of that funding will go to health care to offset the Trump administration’s widespread cuts.
Critics of the proposal include BitGo Chief Executive Officer Mike Belshe, who said a new tax on X would also hurt startups.
“If California does this, who in their right mind would start a new business in California?” he wrote in late December.
Although some tech giants, including Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, have recently moved some of their companies out of California, proponents of the proposal say concerns that billionaires will flee are overblown.
The proposed tax would apply to about 200 California billionaires residing in the state as of Jan. 1. The Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, the union behind the initiative, said it would raise $100 billion and that most of the billionaires are not moving.
BitGo did not immediately respond to questions about its headquarters.
