Crypto firm Huobi eyes 100 million users amid plans to cut 20% of workforce (Updated)

Updated (Jan. 6, 4:30 p.m. SGT): This article was updated to include confirmed news about layoffs.

Crypto exchange firm Huobi plans to lay off 20% of its staff by the end of the first quarter of this year, company advisor Justin Sun told Reuters. It was previously rumored that the exchange was looking to dismiss 40% of its employees and cut the salaries of senior employees.

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As investor concerns grow, the firm’s native HT token dropped by nearly 11% in value in the last 24 hours.

Regardless, the company aims to reach 100 million users by the end of the year, Sun tweeted. The advisor announced on December 28 that Huobi has been experiencing “impressive growth,” attracting an average of 20,000 new users per day over the last 60 days.

He also shared that the platform had maintained 100% uptime across its 10-year history, without a single security breach. In 2020, before it withdrew from China, the firm said it had 15 million users.

According to CoinMarketCap, Huobi’s website has seen over 2 million visitors within the past week and US$344.4 million in trading volume in the last 24 hours.

In late December, the Seychelles-based company said it was listing the Pi token on its platform. However, token creator Pi Network said that the listing was done without its “consent, authority, or involvement.”

See also: How crypto is killing seed phrases to usher in mass adoption