Kraken Lays Off 1,100 Workers As Crypto Winter Sets In
One of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges has laid off over a thousand of its staff in an attempt to ease the burden of the ongoing "crypto winter." The cryptocurrency market is in a period of steady decline, with the value of major assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum dropping to around half of the all time highs enthusiasts saw in 2021. To make matters worse, the crypto industry is currently racked by scandal. FTX, which was formerly one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world, spectacularly collapsed last month. Investors may have lost billions, the company's management is being investigated, and trust in cryptocurrency has been impacted.
Kraken is one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges. It makes its money dealing in both digital and fiat currencies. The exchange has been around for more than 10 years, and currently deals with over 8 million customers. Based on total volume of trades alone, Kraken is the third-largest crypto exchange in the world as things stand (via CNBC). Despite its success, it has recently announced that some very major staffing cuts must be made.
Kraken is laying off close to a third of its workforce
In a recent blog post, Kraken confirmed it will be laying off around 30% of its workforce "in order to adapt to current market conditions." Around 1,100 staff will lose their jobs in the cuts, which the company says will bring the size of its workforce back to where it was a year ago. Previous actions Kraken has taken before resorting to cuts have involved reducing the number of new hires, and avoiding large scale investments. Various worldwide issues have contributed to the "climate" Kraken is referring to. As far as the direct impact on the company itself, the post claims that Kraken has experienced "significantly lower trading volumes and fewer client sign-ups" since the year began.
The company has promised outgoing employees will receive "comprehensive support" as part of their severance package. This includes 16 weeks pay, performance bonuses their managers believe they deserve, four months extended access to the company healthcare plan and counseling services, an extended window in which to exercise their stock options, immigration support for departing employees on sponsored visas, and help with exploring other career opportunities. Outside of the crypto market, other big tech companies have resorted to layoffs as the market sours. This includes Meta, who have laid off thousands of staff, Twitter which has cut most of its workforce since Elon Musk's takeover, and most recently delivery service DoorDash, which announced over 1000 job cuts at the end of November.