Another crypto exchange is downsizing its workforce citing “current market conditions.”
In a Nov. 30 announcement, U.S.-based crypto exchange Kraken said it would reduce its headcount by around 1,100 people, which amounts to 30% of its employee base.
The exchange said the move was in aid of adapting to current market conditions, describing it as one of its “hardest decisions” to date.
Kraken said it has tripled its workforce over the past few years in light of the millions of new crypto users that entered the space. The current reduction will reportedly shrink Kraken’s workforce to what it was at the same time last year.
“Since the start of this year, macroeconomic and geopolitical factors have weighed on financial markets. This resulted in significantly lower trading volumes and fewer client sign-ups,” said Kraken co-founder Jesse Powell in a blog post.
Kraken joins a growing list of crypto companies that have made cuts to its workforce in 2022. Most recently, Digital Currency Group let go of 10% of its staff amid a firm-wide restructuring effort announced on Nov. 1, followed by crypto exchange Coinbase that said it was laying off 18% of its workforce to take on crypto winter.
The market wide downturn, which began with LUNA’s collapse earlier this year, has worsened after the shocking collapse of FTX in November. The leading digital asset Bitcoin is now trading at $17,124, down 75% from its all-time high ahead of $69,000 in November last year.
Despite a general trend of trading volumes declining, one centralized crypto exchange has been moving in the opposite direction to its peers and ramping up hiring. Binance hired 1,500 people between June and December and is looking to fill hundreds of additional positions before the end of the year, according to the exchange’s CEO Changpeng Zhao.
At the time of this tweet 👇, @Binance had 5900 people. Today we have 7400+ people. Targeting 8000 or so by end of year.
Hiring continues. https://t.co/p69p5aqrXe
— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) November 21, 2022
“Binance’s team size doubled from a year ago,” said Zhao in a Nov. 28 tweet.