MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th January, 2023) US Coinbase cryptocurrency exchange will fire about 20% of its employees amid the negative trend on the crypto market, the CEO and a co-founder of the company, Brian Armstrong, announced on Wednesday.
"I've made the difficult decision to reduce our operating expense(1) by about 25% Q/Q, which includes letting go of about 950 people(2)," he wrote in a message to employees.
According to the exchange's website, 950 people are about 20% of its total number of employees, which is 4,700, working across the globe. The memo specified that staff reduction will occur "in certain locations in Europe."
Armstrong also said that the crypto market had experienced significant volatility in the last year, which was caused by lower demand and scandals the industry, implying the collapse of the FTX exchange.
"As we examined our 2023 scenarios, it became clear that we would need to reduce expenses to increase our chances of doing well in every scenario. While it is always painful to part ways with our fellow colleagues, there was no way to reduce our expenses significantly enough, without considering changes to headcount," he added.
Coinbase was founded in 2012. It trades Bitcoin, Ethereum and other popular cryptocurrencies and operates in over 100 countries. The company stated earlier that its net loss for three quarters of 2022 amounted to more than $2 billion, while, in 2021, it reported profit of $2.2 billion in the same period.
