Crypto bloodbath prompts staff cuts across industry

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The crypto winter just got colder as more crypto majors announced steep job cuts. Last week, crypto exchange Kraken laid off 30% of its workforce – which works out to 1,100 employees. This week, Bybit and Swyftx are slashing headcounts, cutting 30% and 40% of their employees, respectively.

Swyftx CEO Alex Harper said the company was preparing for the possible “worst-case scenario:” a continued decline in crypto markets next year and more “black swan” events like FTX, according to an internal staff message seen by the Sydney Morning Herald.

“The truth is that Swyftx grew too fast. Our world was very different at the start of the year and our forecasts were for global trading volumes to carry on rising for at least six months longer than they did,” Harper said.

While neither Bybit nor Swyftx were directly exposed to FTX, the collapse of one of the world’s largest exchanges has sent shockwaves across the industry, affecting not just other exchanges but also lenders and trading firms.

Temasek-backed Amber Group has also laid off “hundreds” of employees and slashed over 50% of some of its teams on top of prior cuts in September that affected 30%-40% of its workforce. However, the firm said on Twitter that for its clients and stakeholders, it was “business as usual.”

But it’s not all bad news for former and existing crypto staffers.

Bankrupt crypto lender Celsius Network, which tanked shortly after the Terra collapse early this year, has won court approval to give out bonuses to its employees to keep them from quitting. These payments could amount to as much as US$2.8 million and will go to employees helping Celsius stay operational as it works to exit bankruptcy.

The super rich in Singapore and Hong Kong also continue to eye digital assets as they look to diversify their portfolio. Specifically, over 70% of the 1,500 people polled in a recent survey said they were moderately or highly interested in digital assets. 60% of those polled have investable assets worth US$500,000 to under US$5 million.

Further, with Goldman Sachs looking to spend “tens of millions of dollars” to buy or invest in crypto companies – most of which are struggling amid downward pressure for cryptocurrencies and lower trading volumes – its willingness to invest during the crypto winter signals a long-term opportunity.

More job cuts are likely, but those with deeper pockets are taking this period of turbulence as an opportunity to “buidl” and to recruit quality talent from the pool of newly retrenched crypto staff.

That brings us to this week’s story about EthSign, a startup building a crypto-powered Crunchbase competitor.

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THE BIG STORY

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⭐ TO THE STARS

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🌙 TO THE MOON

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🌏 BACK TO EARTH

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STILL A PONZI SCHEME

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