Crypto Exchanges Defy Job Cut Trend and Tease Hiring Plans

Crypto platforms Binance, Kraken, and FTX have defied the market by announcing hiring plans as others lay off staff.

Binance said that it will hire 2,000 staff, while Kraken has over 500 roles to fill in the rest of 2022. FTX chief Sam Bankman-Fried endorsed a more “careful” hiring structure that remains unaffected by market conditions.  

Crypto exchanges slash staff

The development follows an announcement by Coinbase that it will be suspending hiring for now, while rescinding job offers recently made.

The exchange recently retrenched 18% of staff, around 1,100 jobs. India alone, where the exchange had planned to expand hiring earlier this year, accounted for 8% of the losses.

Meanwhile, BlockFi has also cut 20% of its workforce, and Crypto.com has laid off 5% of its staff as fears of a “crypto winter” grip the market.

However, as regulators also tighten their grip on the sector, it is expected they may increase the size of their workforces, possibly absorbing some of those laid-off from the sector.

Binance indifferent to weak market sentiments

The tumbling crypto market showed a slight recovery but the global cryptocurrency market cap remains under $1 trillion. That said, bitcoin is hovering at over $22,000 at the time of writing.

Amid the weakening market sentiment, Binance, which is the largest exchange by trading volume, told media outlets that it is hiring across Europe, Asia, South America, Africa and the Middle East.

CEO Changpeng Zhao said: “We will continue to grow our team as planned and see this moment in time as an opportunity to gain access to some of the industry’s best talent.

“Our business strategy was to position Binance for sustained growth over the next decade through multiple market downturns or even a prolonged multi-year declining market. We believe that cooler markets offer the best opportunity for organizations to invest in or acquire great projects at a more favorable price point. We are going to have a very active pipeline in the months ahead.” 

The exchange has also opened new offices with domestic approvals in Italy and UAE among other regions in recent months. But the exchange’s expansion is not without legal troubles.

A recent Reuters report claimed that Binance facilitated at least $2.35 billion in transactions from illicit sources between 2017 and 2022. Binance has questioned that figure.

The Terra collapse has also brought a series of class-action lawsuits against the largest exchange.