Crypto Winter Layoffs? Binance Is Hiring While Most Exchanges Are Firing, CEO Says

By Mat Di Salvo

While other cryptocurrency exchanges are firing staff, the world’s biggest is reportedly on a hiring spree. 

According to Fortune magazine, Binance is making the most of the crypto winter—its CEO said the exchange was “expanding hiring right now.”

“If we are in a crypto winter, we will leverage that, we will use that to the max,” Changpeng Zhao was quoted saying at the Consensus 2022 conference in Austin, Texas last week. 

Binance's co-founder Yi He even said in an interview with the magazine that there were currently 2,000 roles for “engineers, product, marketing to business development.” 

She added that “the crypto space is still in its early stages,” and that it was “a great time to bring on top talent.”

Many other exchanges and big firms in the digital asset space are cutting staff as the price of pretty much every single cryptocurrency is in the red. 

Gemini, Coinbase, and Crypto.com have all announced workforce cuts, while crypto lending platform BlockFi yesterday said it was getting rid of “roughly 20%” of staff. A number of big Latin American exchanges—including Bitso and Mercado Bitcoin—have also announced cuts.

Crypto firms have justified the layoffs by referring to an impending possible recession—which is hurting the price of everything, from equities on Wall Street to Ethereum on decentralized exchanges. 

At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading for $22,520.49, a 67% dip from its $69,044.77 November all-time high. And market observers suggest that Bitcoin and other crypto assets still have a ways to go before finding a bottom.

Binance isn’t the only crypto company that will be hiring more, not less, during the bear market:  FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried last week said on Twitter that the exchange was “going to keep pushing forward” by continuing to hire. Ryan Watt, CEO of Polygon Studios, likewise tweeted today that his company plans to increase its headcount by 15% this year.

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