Cryptocurrency exchange platform KuCoin has announced its plans to hire more staff. This is an unprecedented development considering that the cryptocurrency market is experiencing massive instability. This is due to crypto prices crashing and the market cap dropping significantly. Replying to rumours that KuCoin was planning massive layoffs, CEO Johnny Lyu said that the exchange has no intention to lay off any employees.
Lyu stated that, on the contrary, they are looking to hire more than 300 new staff members in the coming months. He said that KuCoin is among the few crypto platforms that continue to grow amid the turbulent cryptocurrency market. This is because of its effective business strategy focusing on new products and maintaining a healthy working environment for its employees. KuCoin currently has over 1,000 employees in various positions, including technology, compliance, and marketing.
Trade volume of over $1 trillion
Launched in September 2017 in Seychelles, KuCoin has a total trading volume of over US dollar 1 trillion. The exchange platform offers more than 700 digital assets and facilitates spot trading, P2P fiat trading, futures trading, staking, and lending. The exchange prides itself on having 18 million current users in 207 countries. This has made KuCoin one of the top 5 cryptocurrency exchanges globally, according to CoinMarketCap. Forbes acknowledged KuCoin as one of the best crypto exchanges in 2021. The crypto exchange allows users to trade for as low as $1 and has no restrictions on the exchange limit between fiat and crypto. Through its P2P platform and debit/credit card channel, KuCoin’s platform supports more than 50 fiat currencies globally.
The crashing crypto market and layoffs
2022 has not been a good year for cryptocurrency as the market went through a series of downturns. The massive crash of cryptos such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) is comparable to the 2008 global financial crisis. By June 2022, Bitcoin had fallen almost 70% from its record high of over $68,000 in November 2021 to trade below $20,000 now. Ethereum also reached its peak in November 2021 to trade at $4,800. The second most popular crypto has also faced a massive crash, trading at about $900 in January 2022. It has rebounded and settled at slightly above $1000.
The crypto crash has led to steep declines in the crypto market cap. At the time of writing, ETH is now at $1085, with BTC trading at $19,750. With no end to the market’s continuing decline, crypto companies have laid off their staff to cope with the market situation. By June, companies had started laying off some workers or freezing hiring. On June 14, 2022, Coinbase laid off 1,100 employees representing 18% of its workforce. Banxa, a payment service provider, laid off 70 employees. Robinhood, an American-based crypto platform, announced in April 2022 that it was laying off 9% of its staff. Affecting about 300 full-time and contract employees. Crpto.com, founded in 2016 with more than 56 million users, also fired about 260 of its workers. The layoffs are happening globally. Bitso, the second-largest crypto exchange company in Latin America, is letting go of 80 employees.
Conclusion
All hope is not lost. Some companies and investors remain hopeful and bullish about the future of cryptocurrency. With the rising inflation, the war in Ukraine, and speculation of the inevitable recession, it is hard to see any positive future for crypto. Despite this, some companies and crypto backers remain on a steady footing concerning the rebound of crypto. Companies such as KuCoin remain hopeful for the future. The CEO said that the exchange seeks to expand innovation and focus on compliance. He adds, “We believe that our bet on growth in market turbulence is the only correct decision that helps KuCoin maintain a high bar.”
