Where are they now? 10 Crypto Companies That Were Hiring in 2022

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In the first half of 2022, crypto companies were flooding the job market in Singapore. The bull market was still well under way and there was no shortage of capital in the industry. At the time, we compiled a list of 10 companies that were among the most prolific in their hiring practices.

Needless to say, a lot has changed since then. First, it was the LUNA/USDT crash that set off a domino effect, claiming companies such as Three Arrows Capital and Hodlnaut.

More recently, the collapse of FTX sent shockwaves through the industry, further damaging consumer confidence and worsening the stock market crash.

As things stand, a recovery does not seem to be in sight. However, it seems timely to revisit our list of 10 companies to see how well they have weathered the storm.

1. Binance

Binance has been the largest crypto exchange in the world for over half a decade now. Following the collapse of FTX, its market dominance has widened even further. The next competitor, Coinbase, only sees around 10% of Binance’s trading volume on a daily basis.

Amid crypto layoffs that began in mid-2022, the company continued to hire. At the time, CEO Changpeng Zhao spoke of a “healthy war chest”, with the ability to grow as competitors downsized. In 2023, this remains just as true.

Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance, at the Point Zero Forum / Image credits: Point Zero Forum

At a crypto conference in January, Zhao announced plans to increase staff numbers by 15-30% this year. Currently, there are over 500 job vacancies listed on the Binance website, of which around 100 can be applied for by those based in Singapore.

As such, Binance is hiring more aggressively now than it was during the bull market when the previous version of this article was written.

Although the company has faced allegations of mismanagement of funds and misrepresentation of losses in recent months, this does not appear to have affected operations. In fact, Zhao has refuted some of these claims, saying the reported loss figures are billions of dollars in error.

2. Crypto.com

Crypto.com didn’t weather the stock market crash as well. The company has invested heavily in marketing through 2021 and 2022, spending nearly $1 billion on sponsorships alone.

$700 million bought Crypto.com the naming rights to the iconic Staples Center in Los Angeles, and another $100 million allowed the company to decorate promotional signs at Formula 1 events.

Since then, the company has quietly reduced its partnerships in line with Ad Age. This has included the withdrawal of agreements with the UEFA Champions League and Twitch. Crypto.com has also reduced its workforce, with up to 40% of its workforce reportedly laid off in the second half of 2022.

Image credits: Financial Times

Last January, CEO Kriz Marszalek announced a further 20% reduction in the workforce, saying the company was unable to withstand the market impact caused by the collapse of FTX.

Despite these cuts, Crypto.com is still hiring for a few select positions in Singapore. Included are positions such as product manager, brand designer, and mobile developer.

3. Okcoins

Okcoin maintained its good position during the stock market crash, according to a Twitter thread from CEO Hong Fang.

Fang says the company has never loaned client assets to others or attempted to grow through leveraged trading. This helped them avoid much of the fallout from the collapse of companies like FTX and Three Arrows Capital.

Fang points out that Okcoin will continue to focus on technological developments rather than taking on a banking role that many other crypto exchanges have opted for. “We will continue to refrain from taking balance sheet risks,” she added.

There were no public reports of company-wide layoffs at Okcoin following the stock market crash. Although the company is not hiring in Singapore at the moment, it has positions open in countries including Malta, South Korea and the United States.

4. Alchemy pays off

Unlike most of the companies on this list, which are crypto exchanges, Alchemy Pay’s core business is enabling crypto payment solutions.

The company works with a host of e-commerce and crypto partners including Shopify, Paytend, Binance, and Huobi to facilitate the process of converting between fiat and cryptocurrency.

In 2023, Alchemy Pay has ambitious plans to continue to expand across the world. It intends to add countries such as India, Korea, and Venezuela to the list of locations where its ingress and egress solutions can be accessed. Along with this, Alchemy Pay also became one of Visa’s official service providers and started supporting Apple Pay for fiat-to-crypto purchases.

It is unclear whether Alchemy Pay had to lay off staff following the stock market crash. The company did not respond to Vulcan Post’s request for comment. Currently, the company is not hiring in Singapore.

5. Coinbase image credits: EJ Insight

Coinbase found itself in the same boat as Crypto.com after the stock market crash, having to go through several rounds of layoffs.

In June 2022, CEO Brian Armstrong admitted that the company had grown too quickly over the past year. The slowdown exposed operational flaws and revealed the need to better manage expenses. This triggered a decision to reduce the workforce by 18%.

Since then, Coinbase has continued its struggle to navigate the bear market. Last January, the company took the decision to lay off an additional 20% of its staff, or nearly 1,000 employees.

Armstrong admitted that the initial layoffs in June were not enough and that the subsequent collapse of FTX further impacted the company’s position.

Currently, Coinbase is only recruiting for an HR and recruitment position in Singapore. The job comes with perks, including a gym and transportation allowance, and volunteer time off.

6. BSE

BTSE appears to have held up well throughout the stock market crash, not suffering any direct consequences from the LUNA/USDT crash or the collapse of FTX.

BTSE offers spot and forward trading with over 1,200 trading pairs for users to choose from. Last December, the company regained its place among the top 10 derivatives exchanges, according to CoinGecko’s ranking.

A coder since the age of 15, Jonathan Leong founded BTSE in 2018. In January 2022, he handed over his position as CEO to Henry Liu / Image credits: BTSE

Much like the broader crypto market, BTSE’s native crypto token has lost significant value since 2022. It has fallen over 60% from its all-time high last March. Despite this, CEO Henry Liu remains optimistic given recent signs of market stability and recovery.

BTSE is currently only recruiting for a marketing position in Singapore and is looking to expand its network of influencers and key opinion leaders to help grow the BTSE brand.

7. Kraken

Despite being one of the oldest exchanges with a good deal of experience dealing with crypto winters, Kraken was forced to cut its workforce by 30% last December.

The company announced that it would lay off 1,100 employees in order to adapt to market conditions. The move came just six months after Kraken launched a process to increase its staff by 500 people.

Financial News reported on a “wildcat” layoff process in which employees were locked out of their computers with little or no warning. News of the layoffs had reached the media even before the employees themselves were informed.

The underlying technology here is not in question. These mistakes, this blatant fraud were made by people, not technology.

Kraken Australias @jdesmondmiller recently sat down with @CNBC to discuss why, despite recent events, there is still optimism in the crypto industry. pic.twitter.com/PibNwtWTWh

— Kraken Exchange (@krakenfx) December 20, 2022

Currently, Kraken remains the third largest crypto exchange by trading volume, behind only Binance and Coinbase. The company is not currently hiring in Singapore, but has nearly 100 open positions in other parts of the world, including Europe and North America.

8. Coinhako Yusho Liu (left) and Gerry Eng (right), co-founders of Coinhako / Image credit: Coinhako

Singaporean crypto exchange Coinhako weathered the storm without controversy. The company spent the first half of the year focusing on its institutional services, a segment that saw a 300% increase in trading volume during that period.

After the onset of the crypto winter, Coinhako continued to hire with plans to expand across Asia.

More recently, the crypto exchange has made it easier for Singaporeans to buy crypto. Users can now fund their accounts using PayNow, which only takes about a minute and has no fees.

Currently, Coinhako is recruiting for over 20 jobs in Singapore. These include internships as well as full-time positions in areas such as software engineering, product management, and data analytics.

9. Zilliqa

The crypto winter is often seen as a build time where developers can buckle up and just focus on the product. Zilliqa has continued to grow its ecosystem over the past year, with major upgrades planned for 2023.

The network is pushing for support and development of DeFi protocols, starting with Ionise, an app that facilitates short-term borrowing and lending. According to CEO Matt Dyer, this is an important step in breaking the misconception that Zilliqa is only for blockchain games.

As it stands, Zilliqa does not advertise any exclusive vacancies in Singapore. However, the company has roles in public relations and data analysis for remote workers based all over the world.

10. Cobo Inauguration of the new Cobos headquarters in Singapore / Image credit: Cobo

Cobo was among many crypto companies to move their operations from China to Singapore in 2021. Since then, the company has continued to expand its presence with the launch of a new regional headquarters last September.

According to co-founder Discus Fish, the next goal is to partner with other companies that make up Singapore’s financial industry. “Singapore has opened its borders to crypto and we hope to be able to provide infrastructure and grow the crypto ecosystem in Singapore,” Fish told Vulcan Post.

Cobo is actively recruiting in Singapore, with vacancies in sales, customer service and website development. The company is also looking for local institutions to offer internships to students.

Featured Image Credit: Binance / Zilliqa / Crypto.com / Coinbase

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