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As many crypto firms announce layoffs, UK’s largest unicorn Revolut is adding to its crypto division.
The firm will boost its crypto staff by 20% by hiring across its European, American, and British offices for positions in compliance, financial crimes prevention, crypto legal assistance, and software engineering, according to Bloomberg.
Revolut’s crypto general manager Emil Urmanshin said that his team sees “crypto as a long-term play and [we] remain bullish on the crypto industry.” While crypto only accounts for 5%-10% of the firm’s global revenue, it’s looking to expand and prepare for a future when these margins are larger.
Urmanshin also told Decrypt that "this year we have hired several hundred staff across various teams in London and many more globally. We want to grow our crypto team by 20% in the next six months."
Alongside beefing up its crypto division, Revolut also announced the addition of 22 new cryptocurrencies, including the popular metaverse token ApeCoin, according to Bloomberg.
Targeting growth in the crypto sector is nothing new for Revolut.
It also rolled out a Crypto Earn and Learn feature last month with Polkadot, where users can earn up to $15 of DOT for completing various educational courses on the platform.
Last November, it added no-fee crypto trading for US users, with CEO of Revolut USA Ron Oliveria telling Decrypt at the time that “the free crypto part is part of a larger pitch to investors that we’re a provider of services.”
Layoffs hit crypto industry hard
Meanwhile, investor broker application Robinhood recently announced a 23% layoff of staff — after a 9% cut in April—citing crypto bear market woes and inflation.
Crypto-specific firms like Gemini, Coinbase, OpenSea, and Crypto.com have also announced hefty cuts amid the ongoing price slump.
BlockFi, the lending and borrowing platform heavily impacted by the market downturn, also offered employees an enticing 10 weeks of paid leave and 10 weeks of extended health insurance should they resign.
Alongside Revolut, leading crypto exchanges in FTX, Kraken, and Binance are also hiring.
FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried said that because the exchange “hired carefully,” it can continue to “keep growing regardless of market conditions.”
Editor's note: This article has been updated on August 8, 2022, at 6:00 am EST to include additional commentary from Revolut's crypto general manager Emil Urmanshin.