Coinbase crypto exchange lays off fifth of staff | Economy

In recent years, Coinbase, which has been listed on the Nasdaq technology exchange since April last year, has recruited a lot of people. This year alone, 1,200 employees were added, bringing the counter at the end of the first quarter to almost 5,000 employees.

18 percent of them now have to leave again. The employees concerned will be able to count on a severance payment of at least 3.5 months’ wages, plus two weeks’ wages per year that they were employed.

The crypto market took a hit after bitcoin, the first and best-known crypto currency, reached a new all-time high in November. Earlier this year, the TerraUSD stablecoin — whose price should in principle be stable at $1 — collapsed, leaving billions of dollars in profits up in the air. Last week, cryptocurrencies plunged even further after cryptocurrency platform Celsius Network froze withdrawals amid a sort of bank run.

Coinbase is not the only platform that is laying off employees due to the slump in the market. At crypto exchange Crypto.com, 5 percent of the jobs disappear, at industry peer Gemini Trust that happens with 10 percent of the jobs. The BlockFi platform is also cutting staff numbers.

The decline of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and ethereum is associated with higher interest rates. The investments in crypto are seen by many people as risky and if there are alternatives to earn money with less risk, it depresses prices.

According to the website Coinmarketcap, which keeps track of the prices of digital coins on various exchanges, a bitcoin is still worth slightly more than USD 22,000 (converted more than 21,000 euros). That is a quarter less than a week ago. Ethereum dropped in value by almost a third during the same period.

By the way, not the entire crypto world is in a downpour. CEO Changpeng Zhao of crypto exchange Binance announced earlier this week that he was hiring more people. Binance is also actively looking for potential acquisitions.