By Richard Hines
Coinbase, the cryptocurrency exchange Platform has reportedly slashed 60 members of its workforce due to the critical state of the market and the events following the crash of FTX exchange.
60 Employees Let Go As Market Crash Continues
The tragic fall of FTX and subsequent market crashes in the crypto space has taken exchanges by the neck. A series of layoffs have been recorded in the crypto space with a recent one of Coinbase.
The Coinbase exchange has laid off 60 members of its workforce as the market crash is seen to take a huge toll on the exchange’s revenue.
The Chief Financial Officer, Alesia Haas threw it out in the open that more layoffs are to come if the condition of the market worsens. Alesia described this action as a surgical operation to weed out employees in order to sail safely during these crazy times in crypto space.
According to Alesia’s statement, she stated that if a further decrease in revenue continues and this decrease impacts gravely on the exchange, further cost mitigation strategies put in place for times like this would be executed.
This layoff spree started way back in June when Coinbase let go of 18% of its workforce. The CEO of Coinbase, Brian Armstrong explained that the crypto space and economy was experiencing the early heat of a recession after long rallies of pumps and surges, and it was with this knowledge the Coinbase took this step to lay off some workers to reduce expenses and mitigate costs.
Crypto Winter’s Effect On Exchanges And Market
This crypto winter period that has rallied on from the beginning of this year to the close of the year has taken with it businesses, funds, investments and terrible happenings in the crypto space. However, some signs of a recovery was noticed as Bitcoin traded above the $21,000 mark with a total market cap of over $1 billion.
Unfortunately, with the FTX crash, the hope of a recovery was completely neutralized as the crypto market lost a total of 850 billion in market cap with Bitcoin plummeting to a low of $15,500.
With the current market condition, other exchanges have also taken cost mitigation steps by laying off a percentage of their workforce.
The Bybit exchange was recently enrolled on this list as it slashed a percentage of its workforce this year, however, the actual number was not disclosed to the public.
Following closely behind is Huobi Exchange, as it is rumored to lay off 30% of its staff as sharp cut in revenue cuts deep. Other exchanges like Gemini and Cryptocom have also taken these measures.