Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong took to Twitter on Tuesday to announce that the cryptocurrency exchange would be laying off 18 per cent of its workforce, blaming the broader market turndown. The exchange laid off 8 per cent of its India staff as part of its global lay off plan. Coinbase had also previously rescinded the new job offers it had sent out.
However, the company has hired former Prosus official Arnab Kumar to relaunch and expand its operations in India.
This is not an isolated incident. Many other global crypto exchanges and companies are resorting to reducing their workforce in these uncertain economic times.
Crypto.com CEO also announced earlier this week that the exchange would lay off 260 employees due to the choppy market conditions. Crypto lending platform BlockFi also made a similar announcement on Monday.
Gemini crypto exchange, which is run by the Winklevoss’ twins, also cut 10 per cent of its staff and justified this by claiming that the crypto winter is here.
The twins announced in a blog post earlier this month that the crypto industry is in a “contraction phase” and this downtime has been “further compounded by the current macroeconomic and geopolitical turmoil.”
Cryptocurrency trading platforms like BitMEX and Robinhood also recently reduced their headcount in the past few months, blaming the global economic downtrend.
Although crypto exchanges such as Binance and FTX seem to have openings, those positions are only available in new geographical areas and untapped markets where they are establishing their operations.
What’s happening south of the border?
Crypto exchanges in Latin America, which has the most amount of active crypto users as per data from Statista, are also facing the brunt of the weak global economic cues and are partaking in this ‘firing fever’.
Argentinian crypto exchange, Buenbit laid off 45 per cent of its employees. Moreover, crypto exchanges like Mercado Bitcoin and Bitso laid off over 10 per cent of their employees to beat the economic woes.
But what about Dubai?
This ‘firing frenzy’ has not left the Middle East untouched. Despite positioning itself as an oasis for crypto companies across the world, crypto exchanges in Dubai and UAE are also going through tough times.
Rain Financial Inc, a top exchange in UAE fired a significant part of its workforce, blaming the economic slowdown.
The exchange’s CEO Joseph Dallago said in a statement, “As cryptocurrencies and global markets continue to slow down, this has, in turn, impacted businesses across the globe. We have had to make tough decisions to be able to navigate through this period of uncertainty, and we can confirm we have downsized our Rain workforce.”
The crypto exchange did not reveal the number of people it let go. Business Today has reached out to them for comments and the copy will be updated as and when their comments are received.
Also Read: Crypto markets back in green; Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana see mild recovery - BusinessToday
Also Read: Bill Gates thrashes crypto; pokes fun at BAYC - BusinessToday