Cryptocurrency Exchange Huobi Plans to Cut 20% of Workforce

Crypto exchange Huobi is planning to lay off 20% of its workforce, as a months-long rout in digital asset prices continues to disrupt many of the industry’s largest companies.

(Bloomberg) — Crypto exchange Huobi is planning to lay off 20% of its workforce, as a months-long rout in digital asset prices continues to disrupt many of the industry’s largest companies.

Singapore-based Huobi expects to maintain “a very lean team” going forward due to the ongoing bear market, the company said in a statement on Friday. Reuters was first to report the firings.

Huobi’s exchange token HT fell as much as 9% on Friday according to data from CoinGecko, while larger cryptocurrencies Bitcoin and Ether were little changed.

The exchange’s planned layofs make Huobi the latest crypto company to reduce staff. Genesis Global Trading Inc. said on Thursday that it had laid off more than 60 employees in its latest round of job cuts, amounting to roughly 30% of the troubled crypto brokerage’s workforce. 

The cuts come as the crypto sector struggles to hold ground after the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX and series of other bankruptcies in 2022.

Read more: Crypto’s Latest Mystery Is Who Owns the Major Exchange Huobi

Huobi’s workforce reduction comes as the exchange suffers continued outflows. Around $85 million has been withdrawn from Huobi in the last 24 hours, according to data from Coinglass, the biggest outflow among exchanges listed on the site’s asset transparency section. Huobi did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the outflows. 

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