It’s another crypto
winter and there is a downsizing wave sweeping through the cryptocurrency
industry.
On Tuesday, Coinbase announced
that it was pruning its
workforce by 18% in preparation
for a recession it says could lead to another crypto winter.
Two weeks earlier,
Gemini said it was cutting its
staff base by 10%, citing “current
macroeconomic and geopolitical turmoil.”
In addition, BlockFi, a crypto
lending service, and Crypto.com, a Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange,
have announced similar actions.
This morning we announced that after taking significant time to plan and consider, we are reducing our headcount by roughly 20%. This is not a decision we take lightly and is one that brings us great sadness.
— Zac Prince (@BlockFiZac) June 13, 2022
While BlockFi said it
was reducing its headcount “by roughly 20%,” Crypto.com on Saturday said it was
letting go of 260 workers or 5% of its corporate workforce.
On the contrary, Binance on Wednesday said it was undergoing talent recruitment for 2,000 open job positions in its exchange.
KuCoin, a Seychelles-headquartered cryptocurrency exchange, also said it has no plan to make any significant changes to its hiring plan for 2022.
“Every year, KuCoin works on its business strategy that already implies some anti-crisis management measures; so we are always ready to react to such market changes,” the exchange wrote in a document shared with Finance Magnates
So, what is with all
these mass layoffs?
Behind the Retrenchments
These downsizing actions
come at a period the cryptocurrency industry is grappling
with continued market volatility and struggling to get back on its feet after the Terra-Luna
crash.
At the start of the
week, crypto market capitalization dropped below $1 trillion to levels last
seen in early 2021.
Specifically, Bitcoin
slumped 14%, dropping below $24,000, which is the lowest since December 2020.
Also, data from CryptoCompare
shows that the total assets under management across…
