The cryptocurrency market suffered from one of the worst bear markets in history, which triggered the fall of giants like Celsius and FTX. Crypto firms have been forced to lay off staff to sustain operations during the harsh climate. Huobi has become the latest exchange to lay off a significant percentage of its workforce.
Huobi is preparing to lay off around half of its employees
Huobi is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges globally by trading volumes. Last month, there were speculations that the company would trim its expansive workforce, but the exchange denied these rumors. However, it has now been confirmed that Huobi will not only be laying off employees but also reducing the paychecks of senior executives at the exchange.
The news on the lay-offs was announced by Wu Blockchain on Twitter, who said that Huobi planned to reduce its workforce from the current 1,200 employees to around 600 and 800 employees. The company was also canceling yearly bonuses.
The company’s lay-offs and cancellation of bonuses come after the exchange unveiled a major rebranding effort to grow its global presence. In November 2022, Huobi announced plans to launch several year-end campaigns that commenced on December 18. The campaign allows users to win crypto prizes.
The move also comes amid an intense bear market that has forced many cryptocurrency companies to cut costs to sustain their profits and operations. This year’s bear market has seen some of the largest crypto firms, such as Celsius, Voyager, BlockFi, Three Arrows Capital, and recently FTX go under.
Huobi was one of the early entrants in the crypto space as it was founded in 2013. The exchange has yet to issue an official statement on these lay-offs amid speculations on the company’s financial health and whether it will survive the harsh bearish environment. After the fall of FTX, Huobi has become of the top exchanges globally.
Huobi was a leading exchange in China before 2021. However, after China cracked down on cryptocurrency activities last year, Huobi was forced to halt operations in the country and move overseas. Huobi has offices in Hong Kong, Singapore, and South Korea.
Crypto lay-offs intensified in 2022
This year’s bear market has seen multiple crypto companies slashing their workforce to sustain operations. Huobi will not be the first crypto exchange to announce lay-offs. Other top exchanges, such as Coinbase and Crypto.com, have already laid off many employees to reduce operating costs.
In early December, Bybit also announced it would be laying off 30% of its employees as part of an ongoing reorganization at the company. Bybit said the lay offs would be across all departments. At the time, the exchange’s CEO, Ben Zhou, assured users that the exchange was in a healthy financial condition.
Cryptocurrency exchanges have also been under scrutiny because of the recent collapse of FTX. Some exchanges have published proof-of-reserves as a way of rebuilding this trust. The FTX fallout saw a large number of digital assets being withdrawn from centralized exchanges.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
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