A multi-million-dollar deal between two Cayman companies has been hailed as a watershed for the island’s emerging fintech industry.
Bullish Capital – a Tech Cayman sponsored enterprise – led an investment round that has helped pump $23 million into ether.fi, which is based out of Cayman Enterprise City.
The deal, covered in business and crypto currency publications around the world, will facilitate further research and development within Cayman on key technology underpinning the industry.
It is also being described as a sign of the growing possibilities in what could become a new pillar of the island’s economy.
“The takeaway here is that a serious technology company, physically based on island, has raised a large amount of capital and is going to be hiring around a dozen people over the next year,” said Mike Silagadze, CEO and co-founder of ether.fi.
Alasdair Foster, president of Bullish Capital, which is part of a larger group of companies under the B1 (Block.one) umbrella, said the deal showed the value of economic zones like Tech Cayman and Enterprise City to the islands.
He said the fintech industry is increasing in significance in Cayman and could be a driver of high value jobs in the future.
“The presence of businesses like Bullish, where we have a leading team of industry specialists that includes a significant number of Caymanians, indicates a positive impact on job creation and local investment,” he told the Cayman Compass.
“As these tech-based firms expand, they not only provide both education and employment opportunities but also attract further investment into the Cayman Islands, contributing to the overall economic development of the jurisdiction.”
He said companies like Bullish – which will soon move to new offices on the top floor of a new 10-storey commercial building in Camana Bay – and ether.fi were helping to bolster the reputation of the Cayman Islands as an attractive place for tech-based firms to do business.
Enhance skill sets of Cayman’s workforce
For that momentum to continue, Foster believes Cayman’s leaders must continue to support digital asset businesses, with clear legal frameworks and proportionate regulation to help global fintech companies operate effectively from the islands.
“Additionally, collaboration between the private sector, government and educational institutions can further enhance the skill set of the local workforce, ensuring that Caymanians are well-equipped to participate in and benefit from the wealth and opportunities generated by the growing fintech industry,” he added.
ether.fi is a leader in the developing technology that helps secure the Ethereum blockchain, with around $2 billion ‘staked’, according to Silagadze.
He said the new investment would allow the company to expand, creating around a dozen new high-value jobs, the bulk of them in Cayman.
Currently the majority of those jobs – which involve software and crypto expertise – are likely to be recruited from overseas. But as the industry takes root in Cayman, he said a new niche of employment opportunities would open up.
“This is one of the first deals of its kind in Cayman,” he said.
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