A slice of Apple in Paris: Inside crypto company Ledger's new multi-million euro HQ
In the heart of Paris's bougie Le Marais district lies what blockchain company Ledger hopes will be Europe’s answer to Apple Park in Silicon Valley crossed with the history of a flashy French castle.
The French unicorn company worth $1.5 billion (€1 billion), which builds hardware cryptocurrency wallets, marked its 10th anniversary this year with the opening of a new nine-floor headquarters.
The building boasts a basketball court, exercise studio, and an impressive 360-degree rooftop view over the capital, complete with a bar.
The building cost several million euros and took some convincing of the company’s shareholders, says Ledger’s CEO.
"My thinking [for the building] went to what Apple did for designing hardware in Cupertino," Pascal Gauthier told Euronews Next.
"The other inspiration was Château de Chambord in France, built by France’s King Francis I. Chambord was built as a marketing/propaganda tool to show that François I was the king.
"And so that was also an inspiration for designing the building," Gauthier said in an online video call, which coincidentally or not, displayed an image behind him of a dusty pink castle on a hill.
He says that being CEO of a company that works with crypto has forced him "to be very humble and to know how to manage a company extremely well" during the crypto market’s turbulence.
"It sort of forces you to stay frugal, live off the land,** and be very good at investing your time and effort to sort of maximise opportunities when they arise," he said.
For the moment, the company is reaping the rewards of crypto, which is tipped to continue its bull run in 2025, in large part due to the re-election of pro-crypto US President-elect Donald Trump.
It comes after the price drops and crypto
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