ByBit Planning Layoffs
It has been a hard few months for cryptocurrency exchanges. Due to a combination of a bear market and the decline of such institutions as FTX, several exchanges have been forced to lay off chunks of their staff. These have included such big names as Coinbase and Kraken.
The latest addition to this list is ByBit, a crypto exchange that is reportedly planning to lay off a significant portion of its current staff. This comes courtesy of Ben Zhou, the co-founder and CEO of the exchange who has spoken about current market conditions and how they have affected his business online.
How ByBit is Navigating the Market
This announcement of incoming layoffs comes just as the company has celebrated its 4-year anniversary. At the time, the company had said that it is ‘bullish’ about the crypto market. Sadly, the realities of the market have meant that despite its optimism, the company has to make some tough decisions.
“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,” Zhou said, adding that these layoffs will be across the board as opposed to focusing on a single department.
While also expressing regret regarding the incoming layoffs, Zhou noted that ByBit will do its best to support the outgoing staff. No details have been given at this time but several crypto companies in the same situation have offered severance pay and support for workers currently on visas.
As some executives have pointed out, cutting down staff is essentially a cost-cutting measure that cannot be avoided at some point. The ongoing bear market means that fewer people are trading on exchanges (Coinbase, for example, saw a 27% decline in trading volumes over a period of several weeks). This loss of activity and income means that exchanges cannot support a larger staff pool and as such, need to cut costs and brace for however long the winter will last.
This was a sentiment that was echoed by Zhou, who said, “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. That way we can continue to deliver the crypto ark to the world with even more drive and passion.”
A Long Winter Ahead
When the crypto winter first hit, there was speculation about how long it would last. After all, the crypto market has seen slumps that lasted a few weeks and those that lasted almost a year.
There was some optimism that this would be one of the shorter slumps. Sadly, as industry giants with millions at their disposal are being forced to rein in expenses in the form of staff and planned projects, it appears we are in for a fairly long winter ahead. And as always, all we can really do is wait and watch.