In the latest development related to job cut in the crypto industry, a major crypto exchange Huobi is reportedly going to lay off some of its staff in the wake of the ongoing bear market and its effects on revenues. As per the communication of the exchange, it is going to optimize its current workforce by laying off some of the worst performing employees.
According to the report on South China Morning Post (SCMP), a spokeswoman from Huobi insisted that the company is optimizing the workforce by laying off its worst performers although the company is still hiring for its core business functions and key emerging markets.
The SCMP noted that these layoffs are coming in the wake of a yearlong bear market wherein all the major cryptocurrencies have declined between 80% and 90% from their peak valuations.
Bitcoin, for example, has dropped to around $3,800 from its astronomical level of around $20,000 in the last 12 months, thereby, seriously dampening the spirit of investors as well as the overall crypto market.
Lay Off – An Emerging Trend in Crypto Industry
This layoff news comes close on the heels of another crypto mining company named Bitmain confirming that it is going to lay off some of its staff in what the company called an “adjustment” process.
The representative of the company emphasized that the organization has now decided to focus on the core aspects of its business while withdrawing from other auxiliary things.
Both companies refused to quantify how many jobs they are planning to cut. According to SCMP, Huobi has more than 1,000 employees while Bitmain has full-time workforce with number pegged at 2,594.
In conversation with the publication, Jehan Chu, co-founder Hong Kong-based blockchain firm, stated that downsizing is a natural process in the high growth industries and blockchain sector is no exception to this rule. He cited the example of laying off in the internet sector during the first decade of the 21st century but remained optimistic about the prospects of the blockchain.
Huobi Job-Cut Is Not One-Off
These staff reduction instances are not the only ones we have witnessed this year. Just a month back, Steemit Inc., an organization which runs Steemit platform on blockchain technology for content creation, announced its plan to lay off 70% of its employees in order to reduce its operational cost drastically.
Further, ConsenSys startup which has been launched by Joseph Lubin, Co-founder of Ethereum, has confirmed that it is going for 13% layoff of its staff. Later on, Lubin stated that the company has a very bright future and this layoff doesn’t mean that “Sky is Falling.”
Some reports also suggest that Huobi has already laid off 60% of its employees who are working on the various projects in its Brazilian office. Huobi expanded its operation in Brazil earlier this year and refused to comment on what prompted the company to go for this layoff.
Meanwhile, Huobi has of late issued a delisting risk warning to as many as 32 cryptocurrencies, part of its trading platform, over their poor performance in terms of trading volume.