U.S.-based crypto exchange Kraken will lay off 30% of its global workforce, or approximately 1,100 people, to “adapt to current market conditions,” according to a company blog post on Wednesday.
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Fast facts
- “Since the start of this year, macroeconomic and geopolitical factors have weighed on financial markets. This resulted in significantly lower trading volumes and fewer client sign-ups,” the company said in the post. “Unfortunately, negative influences on the financial markets have continued and we have exhausted preferable options for bringing costs in line with demand.”
- The cuts bring the company’s total workforce to the same size it was 12 months ago, Kraken said in the statement.
- Kraken’s move follows the collapse of the Bahamas-based crypto exchange FTX.com earlier this month, which has driven crypto markets lower and threatens companies with exposure to FTX, with one, crypto lender BlockFi Inc., filing for bankruptcy this week.
- The total cryptocurrency market capitalization has fallen 16% since FTX’s collapse, while Bitcoin is trading down 18% at US$17,128.
- FTX’s collapse only deepened this year’s downturn in the crypto market, with Bitcoin’s price slumping 63% since the end of 2021.
- Another U.S.-based exchange, Coinbase Global Inc., cut 60 positions in the past month, after shedding 18% of its workforce in June.
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