South Dakota
California crypto startup moves to South Dakota as debate over proposed wealth tax heats up
California cryptocurrency startup BitGo has moved to South Dakota ahead of its initial public offering and amid a heated debate about a proposed ballot measure to tax billionaires.
The company that had been based in Palo Alto is now based in Sioux Falls, S.D., according to a December filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
BitGo, which is targeting a valuation of $1.96 billion, offers tools to businesses that help them manage their digital assets and keep them secure.
It occupies 5,250 square feet of office space in Sioux Falls as part of a lease 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 work has made it possible for businesses to recruit employees outside of their main headquarters. BitGo’s career page lists openings for a variety of roles — some of them remote — including in California and South Dakota. Some jobs, though, asks applicants whether they can work on-site.
The filing doesn’t say why the company moved its headquarters. Business leaders who have been critical of California regulation have been relocating their headquarters. Database management company Oracle and social media company X moved their main offices.
SFGate earlier reported on BitGo’s move.
An initiative to tax some of California’s wealthiest residents still needs enough signatures to make it on the November ballot, but it’s already sparking a lot of backlash. Under the Billionaire Tax Act, Californians worth more than $1 billion would pay a one-time 5% tax on their total wealth. Most of that funding would go toward healthcare to help offset widespread cuts by the Trump administration.
Critics of the proposal include BitGo Chief Executive Mike Belshe, who said on X that a new tax would also harm startups.
“Who in their right mind would found a new business in California if California does this?,” he wrote in late December.
Although some tech moguls, including Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, recently have 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 who reside in the state as of Jan. 1. The Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, the union behind the initiative, said that it would raise $100 billion, and that most billionaires haven’t moved.
BitGo didn’t immediately respond to questions about its headquarters.
South Dakota
Republican businessman Toby Doeden advances to primary runoff in South Dakota governor’s race
Republican businessman Toby Doeden has advanced to a runoff in South Dakota governor’s race, NBC News projects.
Gov. Larry Rhoden, who replaced Kristi Noem last year when President Donald Trump nominated her to lead the Department of Homeland Security, was battling with Rep. Dusty Johnson and former state House Speaker Jon Hansen for a second spot in the July 28 runoff. The primary will go to a runoff because no candidate eclipsed 35% of the vote.
Trump did not issue an endorsement in the race. Doeden branded himself on his campaign website as “a total political outsider who’s tired of the government’s failure to deliver on its promises” and one of Trump’s “fiercest supporters.”
Rhoden, a former lieutenant governor, agriculture secretary and lawmaker, campaigned on property tax cuts and lowering crime in his bid for a four-year term.
Johnson is the state’s lone representative in the House, where he previously was chair of the Republican Main Street Caucus. Hansen, who was elected to the South Dakota House in 2010, held several leadership positions before he became speaker.
The Republican nominee will be the favorite to win the general election in the solidly red state this fall. A Democrat has not served as governor in South Dakota since the 1970s, and Trump carried the state by 29 points in 2024.
News
Agronomist: eastern South Dakota crops hit and miss
An agronomist in eastern South Dakota says corn and soybeans are hit and miss as the growing season begins.
Steven Zemlicka with AgTegra Cooperative tells Brownfield, “We’ve got corn anywhere from V1 all the way up to V4. Biggest stuff’s maybe touching V5. Corn’s coming right along, looks pretty good. A little bit of hail here too, but I don’t think it’s going to be much of an issue. Stands for the most part are pretty good, pretty solid.”
Zemlicka says soybean emergence has been slow due to the wet, cool conditions, and there are a few fields that still need planted.
“People were still working on planting soybeans when we got the recent rain.”
He says recent rain totals ranged from a half inch to as much as four inches in the northeast part of South Dakota; the southern part of the state has been drier.
South Dakota’s corn is rated 61 percent good to excellent, with soybean conditions rated 57 percent good to excellent, according to USDA’s first condition ratings of the season.
RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – The South Dakota Community Foundation is encouraging nonprofits to apply for funding this June.
Beth Massa and Ginger Niemann joined us live with what you need to know before applying.
Watch the full interview above.
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