ByBit Crypto Exchange to Layoff Third of Workforce Amid Ongoing Bear Market
Crypto exchange ByBit is planning to cut its workforce by 30% due to poor market conditions – which are likely to worsen, said its CEO Ben Zhou.
Bloomberg cited co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Zhou as saying that reductions will be across the board.
The decision is a part of “an ongoing reorganization,” said Zhou, the goal of which is “refocusing efforts.” The exchange’s priority, he continued, is to make sure that business operations are unaffected and that client assets are safe.
He was quoted as saying that,
“It’s important to ensure ByBit has the right structure and resources in place to navigate the market slowdown and is nimble enough to seize the many opportunities ahead. […] Tough times demand tough decisions.”
And though the crypto winter is in full swing, ByBit’s CEO suggested it could get even colder.
He said that crypto prices trending lower and companies such as crypto lender BlockFi and crypto brokerage Genesis facing major issues and bancruptices are:
Signals “to tell us that we are entering into an even colder winter than we had anticipated from both industry and market perspectives.”
In a blog post published on December 1, Zhou stated that trust and credibility have “been tarnished” in the industry recently – following a number of bankruptcies and collapses, including Terra and FTX – and that FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt) is high.
However, crypto is resilient, he stated, adding that the industry is “bigger than one rogue actor”. Per the CEO, the ByBit team is bullish, and they “see this as the start of much greater transparency in the industry and a way to help remove inefficiency in the wider crypto market.”
Layoffs in the crypto industry have become a common occurrence, with many citing the ongoing bear market as the reason.
As reported, crypto exchange Kraken announced a significant job cut at the very end of November, laying off 30% of its workforce – or 1,100 people. Co-founder Jesse Powell said that the decision was made in an attempt to “adapt to current market conditions,” claiming that the reduction brings the platform’s team size back to where it was one year ago.
At the end of November, it was reported that the non-fungible token (NFT) platform Candy Digital – founded by entrepreneur and investor Gary Vaynerchuk and Michael Novogratz, the founder of the US-based crypto financial services firm Galaxy Digital – decided to fire “a large chunk of its workforce.” More than one-third of the company’s roughly 100 employees were cut.
Meanwhile, the Binance exchange CEO Changpeng Zhao hinted that some exchanges may be facing issues if they are resorting to layoffs. “Beware of platforms that: 1, offer high APYs [Annual Percentage Yields] and/or 2. have layoffs,” he said in a now-deleted tweet. “If you don’t do risk management now, don’t blame others for consequences later.
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Learn more:
– Bybit Establishes a $100M Fund to Support Institutional Clients
– Bybit Partners with Circle
– FTX Resumes Employee Salaries, Huobi Partners with Tron & DMC on Dominica Coin
– Kraken Crypto Exchange Founder Jesse Powell Says This One Thing Can Trigger the Next Bull Market