Cryptocurrency Firms Slash Staff After FTX Collapse

Cryptocurrency exchanges Kraken, Bybit, and Swyftx announced layoffs as the contagion from the collapse of the FTX exchange spreads.

Kraken, the third-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, is to reduce its staff size by nearly a third. The San Francisco-based crypto exchange wrote in a blog post:

"We’re reducing our global workforce by approximately 1,100 people, or 30 percent, in order to adapt to current market conditions."

At Bybit, Ben Zhou, CEO of the Dubai-based crypto exchange, on Dec. 4 tweeted a similar outlook, saying:

"Difficult decision made today, but tough times demand tough decisions. I have just announced plans to reduce our workforce as part of an ongoing re-organisation of the business as we move to refocus our efforts for the deepening bear market."

In an interview with Bloomberg, the Bybit CEO cited the market downturn and the failure of crypto lender BlockFi as signs ''that we are entering into an even colder winter than we had anticipated from both industry and market perspectives.”

Other crypto and technology firms around the world announcing layoffs since the early November collapse and subsequent Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing of FTX include Lemon Cash, Unchained Capital, and Coinbase.