Despite the recent market rally, these crypto companies have laid off more employees

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The prolonged bear market has reduced interest in cryptocurrencies and hampered operations for many industry players. Some leading exchanges, including Coinbase, Crypto.com, Bybit, and Kraken, have laid off some of their workforce to weather the tough times.

The trend seems similar at the start of the year despite the recent market revival, with Gemini, Blockchain.com, Coinbase and many others announcing a new wave of layoffs.

The layoff spree continues

Thousands of people have lost their jobs due to the unfavorable macroeconomic conditions, while the FTX crash and its ensuing domino effect appear to have triggered additional layoffs. Here is a list of crypto firms that reduced the size of their teams between early November and today.

Argentina’s Lemon Cash exchange has cut around 38% of its workforce, which equates to around 100 people. CEO Cavazzoli assured that the changes were unrelated to the collapse of FTX, admitting that the company had “small” exposure to Alameda Research.

Mexican crypto platform Bitsodi laid off around 25% of its staff at the end of November. This was the second round of layoffs for the entity which had previously laid off 80 people.

The San Francisco-based Kraken also added its name to the roster, cutting its workforce by a third.

“Unfortunately, the negative influences in financial markets have continued and we have exhausted preferable options to align costs with demand,” he said.

Bybit joined the bandwagon in early December, cutting 30% of its workforce, while Australian stock exchange Swyftx followed suit with an almost 50% layoff.

Gate.io – a Cayman Islands-based commerce platform, and Huobi didn’t have the best start to the year, shedding almost 50% and 20% respectively.

One of the biggest crypto exchanges – Coinbase – laid off staff for the second time on January 10, while Blockchain.com (28%) and Crypto.com (20%) did so in the following days.

Other trading platforms that have recently reduced the size of their teams are CoinDCX, Amber Group, Gemini (10%) and Luno (35%).

Other industry players

The range does not only include digital asset exchanges, but also companies that offer different types of services. One such example is the cryptocurrency-focused investment company – Paradigm. He cut wages instead of firing people.

The multi-chain network supporting Web3 applications – Octopus Network – laid off 40% of its team members towards the end of 2022. The NFT market – SuperRare – shrunk by 30% in early 2023, while the blockchain software technology company – ConsenSys – took the “decision” to lay off 96 of its employees.

Silvergate Capital – a crypto-focused bank headquartered in California – cut 40% (about 200 people) and abandoned several projects due to unsatisfactory earnings in previous quarters.

Digital Currency Group – a venture capital firm led by Barry Silbert – recently laid off 30% and closed its wealth management division. The move came shortly after its subsidiary Genesis announced a downsizing. Additionally, the platform has also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

A few layoffs until the collapse of FTX

The first wave of layoffs began early in the second quarter of last year (coinciding with the Terra fallout and subsequent market decline). BitMEX pulled 25% back then and another 30% months later.

Argentinian platform Buenbitslashed 45% in May in an attempt to reshape its trading strategy during the global currency crisis.

June also saw many companies downsize their teams, with Coinbase, Crypto.com, Gemini, Banxa, Vauld, 2TM and BitOasis being a few examples.

OpenSea, CoinFLEX, Core Scientific, WazirX, NYDIG, Dapper Labs and others also laid off employees until the FTX crash.

Binance is hiring

Unlike countless job cuts, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange – Binance – has plans for expansion. CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) assured last June that the company had a “healthy war chest”, saying the bear market was a great time to hire more staff.

It doubled this month, revealing Binance’s intentions to grow its team by up to 30%. The China-Canada executive said the squad had grown to 8,000 in 2022 (up from around 3,000 at the start of the year).

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