OKX Continues Hiring But BitOasis to Cut Jobs; Crypto Industry’s Disjointed Reactions to Market Turmoil

After crypto trading exchange OKX announced that it will ‘continue to hire top talent,’ UAE-based cryptocurrency exchange BitOasis has stated that it has laid off nine staffers owing to the market downturn.

Top crypto businesses continue to opt for two diverse approaches to face the market turmoil. Focusing on continued expansion, OKX has confidently remarked, “Our company has weathered many market cycles. We’ve learned that market downturns are an absolute opportunity for us to double down on hiring, building, and scaling our services.”

Previously, crypto platforms including Binance, Kraken, and FTX had also announced hiring plans despite the broader market weakness. Binance had said that it will hire 2,000 new staff members, while Kraken has over 500 roles to fill in the rest of 2022.

However, on the contrary, Reuters reported that BitOasis laid off around 5% of its staff with CEO and co-founder Ola Doudin stating, “Earlier this week, nine employees were made redundant across offices in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Amman,”

BitOasis followed the precedent set by businesses like Coinbase, BlockFi, and Crypto.com, companies that are conducting layoffs amid the crypto winter. BlockFi has also cut 20% of its workforce, and Crypto.com has laid off 5% of its staff. That said, the chief policy officer at Coinbase, Faryar Shirzad, also hinted in a recent interview that more job cuts could be expected in the foreseeable future after the Nasdaq-listed company has already slashed its workforce by 18%.

Broad-based market weakness triggered by the fed rate hike and expectation of further tightening of monetary policies, along with uncertain economic outlook, and crypto platforms halting withdrawals have triggered a series of panic sell-offs.

However, over the weekend, the market volatility led to Bitcoin sliding under the $18,000 level for the first time since 2020. But, BTC has since bounced back above $20,000 in the last 24 hours as per CoinGecko.

At the time of press, the global cryptocurrency market cap cumulatively stands close to $930 billion. As per statements of Wedbush Securities’ Dan Ives to the Financial Times, the market will not be back in the black instantly. Ives said, “This is a dark winter ahead for crypto as the era of free money comes to an end with this weekend another brutal sell-off across the board. Risk assets are all getting thrown out the window,”

And with the expected breaking down of the risk assets, including crypto, some businesses remain skeptical of new hiring. On June 18, Bitcoin’s Fear and Greed Index slumped to a record low of the year.